Nearly Friends
by zombiekyller
Summary: When a new girl storms Nezu's classroom and causes a one day uprising, Hayato is reminded of an old friend. Little does he know that this girl was one of the Vongola family's main and most powerful arms dealer/ hit man. T for strong language.
1. Chapter 1

"Tsuna." something whispered. Tsuna slammed his head upright, causing it to hit the back of his chair. He rubbed the sore spot and grumbled. A ruler was smacked down on his desk with anger. Mr. Nezu was glaring down at him with daggers in his eyes. He slid a test down and then sneered.  
"Fifty seven keep trying." Nezu growled, barring his teeth. He clicked his tongue against his teeth. Nezu sauntered down the aisle, passing papers as he went, a grin on his face. A loud popping noise echoed through the air and the door to Nezu's room fell down in a puff of dust. Drywall floated down in snow like chunks and a girl walked in. Giant, clomping, combat boots with spikes jutting out the back and toe appeared. They traveled up to the Child's thigh and then stopped abruptly. Olive green cargo shorts were slung with little care about her waist. A dark grey wife beater tank-top hung on her shoulders limply. Brightly colored bands and bracelets rippled from her elbow down to her wrist where a pair of dastardly looking gloves were placed with care. They hand spikes on each knuckle and what looked to be retractable ones on her palm. A chunk of a chocolate bar dangled from her lip and she saluted. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and two curly tendrils hung in her face which was slightly rounded.  
"Pft, doors." she cackled, chomping down on the candy. Nezu's mouth hung open and he pointed at the door, speechless. "Yes, yes. It's called a duhoar! You can open it and close it but entrances are more dramatic when you kick one in."  
"how? Who? What?" he spat.  
"All your missing is where and why my friend. On your way to becoming a detective?" she taunted. The girl pulled open one of her pockets and candy spilt out onto the floor. Gumballs, chocolate, gummy worms, licorice ropes, skittles, sour gummies, sprees, and raisins poured out onto the floor. She sighed and then dropped to her knees, plucking up each piece and shoving them inside her pocket. Hayato grabbed a gumball and threw it at her.  
"Dropped that." he mumbled. The girl spun around and caught the candy ball on her hand. With a cocky grin she popped it in her mouth.  
"Thanks, kid. Or should I say, smoking bomb?" she cackled. Hayato went pale and he sat down abruptly. How could she know his nickname? Yet he had no idea who she was. Nezu's was still puzzling over the broken door.  
"No food or drink in class!" he screeched, tugging on his hair.  
"Oh well in that case," she rolled her eyes and pulled out two sodas. She popped them both open on her teeth and spat them at Nezu. "Who wants it?" the class remained silent. The girl chugged her bottle and then cracked it on a desk nearby.  
"I'll take it." Hayato interjected with a shrug.  
"And here we have the ballsiest boy in the class! Welcome," she tossed the bottle at him. Hayato caught it without spilling a drop and then sat down. "To the club."  
"I'm calling the principal!" Nezu cried. He stamped his foot on the ground in anger.  
"Don't lose your head old man. I'm a new student from Venice. Katrina, Katrina Castorini. But you can all call me Kat. Kat candy." she winked. Katrina bit a chunk of the glass off and then spat it out near the door.  
"Well, Katrina, you had better take a seat." Nezu snarled.  
"Okie dokie then." she shrugged. Katrina kicked all the stuff off Nezu's desk and then sat in his chair. The teacher, outraged, stormed out of his room and directly to the principal's office.

"Tightwad isn't he?" Katrina asked. The class nodded ecstatically in reply. Katrina carefully began to clean the room up, putting papers back on the desk and sweeping away bits of drywall and broken glass. She quickly pulled two bolts from her pocket and then picked the door up. Katrina set it back on its hinges and speedily pounded the nails back in. Once the room was again spotless, she took a seat behind Hayato.  
"What's going on in here?" the principal burst through the door. Nezu charged in as well and then gasped. The room was clean and tidy as it had ever been.  
"Nezu, what's going on here?" the principal glared.  
"I-I... It was so... I... She... Kat... Bottle... Candy..." Nezu muttered.  
"I think I'd better go. Do not call me in here again if nothing is wrong. Okay? Okay." the suited man rolled his eyes and marched out. As soon as he was out of hearing distance Katrina began cackling.  
"Rule on of life," she stood up with a grin. "Always, always, always, make sure your projects can be executed as well as they can be reversed. I took the bolts off the door while you were passing out tests and you had a broom in the back of the classroom. My plan was so simple. I kicked down the door with just a light tap, broke the bottle, threw a fit, and cleaned all the evidence away while you looked for you're oh so precious principal. New flash bitch!" Katrina paused and held her hand out. Large spikes extended from the palms and she slammed them down on her desk. "Kat is here to stay! And I will topple this school with my iron fists! Who is with me?" she shouted. Students threw their desks to the ground and then cheered with her.  
"KAT! KAT! KAT! KAT!" they screeched. Hayato lifted her up on his shoulders and she clapped her hands in rhythm with the shouts.  
"SO LET US BRING THE UPRISING LIKE A SHOWER OF SWEET CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER COVERED NERDS FILLED WITH LICORICE!" Katrina yelled.  
"YEAH!" the kids stamped their feet. Someone rapped on the door and Katrina kicked herself off Hayato.  
"BACK IN YOUR SEATS NOW!" she ordered. The kids followed her orders to the word and obediently flipped over and sat down in their desks. The principal waltzed in and raised an eyebrow.  
"Everything okay in here?" he asked.  
"Fine thank you, I'm really getting to know the other students well." Katrina lied.  
"Oh... Continue teaching then, Nezu." the principal shrugged, shutting the door. Immediately, the students resumed their shenanigans. Katrina screamed and led the students as they waved their hands in the air. The final school bell rang and the children charged out, still screaming Kat. Katrina flipped Nezu off as she scurried away, winking. The girl came to an abrupt stop outside where there was a wall of high scholars bustling about. Katrina, who had never liked crowded areas, shrunk in her place. A few patted her on the back or punched her arm supportively as she huddled. Katrina tried to weave her way through the crowd, hoping not to kick or hit anyone with her boots. She escaped, just barely, by heaving herself out the window. Katrina fell head first onto Hayato.  
"GAH!" he screeched. Katrina held her head which now had a gash above her left eyebrow and winced.  
"Sorry..." she muttered, clutching her forehead.  
"How did you even?" he rubbed his shoulder. Katrina laughed with a knowing smile and then pointed upwards.  
"I don't like crowds, I jumped out the window." she giggled.  
"Is your head okay?" Hayato asked, brushing gravel off his pants.  
"I think... It should be. I'm just worried about my candy..." she remarked. Katrina shoved her hand in her pocket and pulled out a handful of colorful sweets. She smiled, happy to know her candy was safe, and then nodded. "I'm fine."  
"so..." Hayato paused to light a cigarette. "How'd you know who I was?"  
"well," Katrina gnawed on a licorice whip. "I know the Vongola family really well. So naturally, when I heard about Tsuna being trained and Reborn being here, I had to come. I know you because you wanted to come over as well. Plus, I've always been good with getting my paws on information. What I'm surprised about is that you don't know me. Or of me at least." she replied.  
"Never heard of a Katrina Castorini before." Hayato said. He puffed a plume of smoke out his mouth coolly.  
"How about a Kat Candy? Or a Boom Box?" Katrina winked. Hayato suddenly stopped and then let his mouth gape.  
"Kat Candy? You're Kat Candy?" he asked, seeming somewhat repulsed. Katrina nodded happily and with vigor.  
"Yep! Kat Candy right here! I missed you smoking bomb! I am very surprised you didn't recognize me! Here," she pulled her hair out of the tie it was in. Clumps of curly brown hair fell to her shoulders, cupping her face somewhat angelically. "That better?"  
"I can't believe it's you!" he cried, smiling widely.  
"I can believe it's you!" Katrina grinned. She held her arms out and then embraced Hayato.  
"It's been so long." he mused. Katrina nodded, taking a deep breath. She sniffed in the scent of smoke and gunpowder. He smelt just like he had back in Italy.  
"I missed you smoking bomb! Remember those missions we used to do together? You'd distract them and I'd come in with my sweets and guns. We rose so much Hell back then..." she trailed off dreamily. Hayato smiled to himself, enjoying the comfort of the old friend. Back in Italy, he and Katrina had worked together on numerous missions. They'd raided ware houses and taken down targets and so much more. Katrina had never belonged to a specific mob but her father's best friend had made weapons for the Vongola's. Katrina's main mentor had been Reborn but Hayato had also helped a considerable amount.  
"We did..." he mumbled. Fond memories of gunfire, bullets, blood, and gore went rushing back to them both. They had been like Bonnie and Clyde minus being romantic partners and dying.  
"Will you take me to Tsuna please? I really ought to work something out with Reborn and him. Because for right now, I'm using a fake address and I'm living in an abandon wear house. However, I am making a bit of money selling my wares. Why just yesterday I sold a pair of my famous spike gloves. Just not as cool as these. I modified them! Check it out!" Katrina released Hayato and held up her hands. "If I flex them the palm blade comes but if I click this on, they only come out when I press this!" she indicated to different parts of the complex gloves.  
"Sure, but don't get your hopes up too high for being let into the family. It's hard stuff." Hayato said, staring at her giant spiked boots.  
"Oh! Can I stop by my base real quick to grab something? I can show you around too! And on the way we can catch up!" she bounced up and down on her feet, obviously experiencing a sugar rush. The main problem with Katrina was that more than half the time, she was sugar high. This meant she was bouncing off walls and sprinting around rooms without a whole lot of thought. She grabbed Hayato's arm and took off in the other direction.

He stumbled along after her as she sprinted, tripping over rocks and nearly running into a bicycle.  
"It's only a wee bit farther so hold on tight!" she cackled. Katrina ripped on his arm and tugged him along quickly. The two shot passed a young girl on a bicycle. She was wearing a large helmet and goggles and tossed something at the two. A can of soda clattered to the ground behind them. Katrina's eyes widened and she stopped abruptly. She dropped to all fours, an odd pose for her, and then began running again but this time she was at least twice as fast. Hayato groaned to himself and then ran after her. He made it to a small corner and then keeled over, out of breath and sick. He leaned against the tree trunk behind him and moaned, clutching his stomach. Katrina stuck her head out of the tree and leaned down to him. Hayato opened his eyes and then fell, startled.  
"God..." he growled."Don't do that..."  
"fine, fine... Come on, I can take a leisurely stroll to my base now. If that is what you wish." she rolled her eyes. Hayato nodded weakly, stomach in turmoil. Katrina reached down a hand for him and smiled. Hayato grabbed her wrist, making sure not to get anywhere near the palm of her hand. Katrina paid little heed to Hayato's wish to walk slowly and started dragging him along again.

"Here we are!" she sang. Katrina slammed her foot down on a piece of scrap metal and the fence swung open. "Now, I'm going to have to walk you through this okay?"  
"through what?" Hayato asked, still out of breath.  
"My extra security." she winked. Katrina cracked her knuckles and then stretched out her arms. She reached into one of her pockets and pulled out an energy drink. It was at least the size of a fat man's lower arm and she cracked it open. Katrina drank most of it and then handed the remains to Hayato. "You'll need this, drink up."  
"for what?" he cried. Katrina tied her hair back again and then cackled.  
"For this!" she shouted. Katrina sprung into action. She kicked herself off a fence and then zig zagged before flipping twice. Katrina jumped up onto her hands and flexed her hands so the spikes stuck out. A large chasm appeared and she dove into it. Katrina dodged flying axe blades and tranquilizer darts before sliding across the rocky floor. She pressed a small red button with her toe blade and then stood up. The chasm began to close and Katrina clawed her way out of it. Hayato stood speechless, can still in his hand.  
"Extra security my ass! That's awesome!" he said. Hayato moved forward to give her a high five.  
"HAYATO NO!" Katrina shrieked. But she was too late, one of his feet clicked down on a pressure plate. Katrina pounded her way over and she dove into him. A group of darts just barely missed her head. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and dragged him away. A plume of smoke exploded and the sound of gunfire and things popping clouded the air.  
"FUCK!" Hayato shouted.  
"I should be the one screaming that!" Katrina growled. "DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO SET ALL THAT UP?"  
"eh heh... Sorry..." Hayato rubbed his white hair.  
"Sorry doesn't cut it! That took me three days of straight working! See these bags?" she slammed her head into Hayato's. "I was up three nights with no sleep!"  
"I didn't mean to..." Hayato trailed off.  
"Sometimes, I really hate you." she said blatantly.  
"Sometimes I really hate YOU." Hayato shrugged.  
"Get up, let's go." Katrina ordered. She held out a hand again but Hayato didn't take it.  
"Alright, show me this oh so interesting wear house of yours." he murmured. Katrina huffed a few curses under her breath and then led him through a mine field of booby traps.

Katrina kicked the door open and then strode in.  
"behold my humble abode!" she spread her arms out. Katrina flicked the lights on, revealing a huge arsenal. RPGs sat in corners, crates of bullets and grenades lay in the center of the ware house, guns were stacked away carefully, and a huge array of knives was displayed on the wall. Hayato stared at the glorious set up.  
"this is a-a-amazing..." he stuttered.  
"The humble life of an arms dealer." she mused, toying with an Uzi. Katrina whipped the gun around and aimed it at Hayato. "BOOM. Ha-ha... Sadly, I'm a terrible shot. Otherwise I'd be pretty damn trigger happy!"  
"BOOM." Hayato mocked, tossing a stick of lit dynamite at her. Katrina set the gun down carefully and then plucked the stick off the ground. She licked her fingers and then ripped the fuse out.  
"DOUBLE BOOM." she clapped. Katrina reached in her baggy shorts and pulled out two gumballs. She threw them both at Hayato and then cackled. "Those are smoke bombs due to explode the second they touch the ground. Oh and they're filled with a special, special, treat." Katrina winked and they clomped in the other direction. Hayato scrambled for the candies, palms outstretched. He grabbed them both and threw them at Katrina who didn't even have to turn around to catch them. She popped both in her mouth and then fell to the ground. Hayato ran over immediately.  
"Shit, you okay?" he asked, shaking her. Katrina started seizing and flailing around. Hayato started panicking instantly.  
"OH MY GOD! ARE YOU OKAY?" He pulled out his phone and began to dial 9-1-1.  
"GOT YOU!" she screeched. Katrina flipped herself off the floor and then poked him in the nose. "If you look up gullible in the dictionary there's a picture of you!" she jabbed him in the stomach and cackled.  
"Hey! No fair you started shaking around like that and I thought you'd committed suicide or something..." he grumbled. Katrina continued to poke him and laugh. Hayato grabbed her wrist with a dirty glare. Katrina head-butted him and he released her. Blood dribbled down her face and landed on her eyelashes.  
"No one wins with a head butt... You have a tissue?" she held her hand out.  
"Don't you have one in one of your pockets? If not just use your shirt." Hayato suggested.  
"No and no." Katrina grumbled.  
"Why no to the second? Don't want a blood stain on your shirt?" he taunted.  
"I don't want to flash you! That's why dumbass. Thought you had perfect grades. Where's that now, huh?" she snapped.  
"I thought you didn't care about me. Where's that now huh?" Hayato snarled. Katrina sent an obscene gesture at him and then stalked over to a wooden box.

"What's that?" Hayato asked, approaching her. Katrina blew some grey dust off the box and then smiled.  
"My entire life." she grinned.  
"You have a life? News to me." Hayato retorted. Katrina Luther hands on his face softly and stared into his eyes. She leaned forward just barely and then cocked her head slightly.  
"DON'T MAKE ME EXTEND THESE HAND SPIKES! I WILL EXTEND THESE GOD DAMNED HAND SPIKES! TAKE IT BACK!" she barked.  
"Okay okay! I take it back! You have a life!" Hayato cried.  
"Good. Anyway... This box contains everything I've worked on since I learned how to make weapons." she mused, sitting down in a metal chair. The box was decent sized but somewhat smaller than what Hayato had imagined. Katrina smiled serenely, opening the box. Inside were five, extremely well made, weapons. The first was a knife with a dragon's tail for the handle. The second, a pistol with vines creeping about on it. The third was a machete had 'Vongola Famiglia' engraved on it. The fourth was a set of seven throwing knives, each with a letter of Vongola on it. And the fifth was a set of two pistols. Each pistol had 'famiglia' written on it out of elegantly curving vines. Leaves budded out of the vines and in the center was a rose. It had a gentle sway and seemed to be floating in the wind. Tiny dew drops danced on the petals and in the very center, 'K.C.' was inscribed in cursive. Katrina ran her hands over the weapons and then pulled out the two pistols.  
"I've been working on these for my entire life. This, right here, is my attempt to be allowed into the family. It's like a peace offering but, not peaceful. At all."  
"you're just... Giving them away?" Hayato said, awestruck.  
"Yes, because, if he accepts them and becomes the head of the Vongola's, I have an instant in. I'm already a hitman for them, but if he likes these, I'll be their full on arms dealer! That'd be the highest amount of honor I could hold! I might just die... You see, my dad was an absentee. He was constantly drinking and out on the town. When he wasn't, though, he beat me and such. Remember, way way back, when I'd come to work all teary eyed and red faced. Then you'd ask me what was wrong and I'd never answer. That's what was wrong. He abused me, constantly. But it made me all the stronger and all the better. He told me day after day I'd never be a hitman and I'd never be able to make weapons. But I proved him wrong. I killed him with these," she pointed to her gloves. "In the middle of the night. He'd become a nuisance and he'd do things that went against mafia code. The Vongola's told me I couldn't continue with them unless I exterminated him. I spent a few late nights with the main Vongola arms dealer and he took me in. He made me my gloves and acted more like a father than my biological father ever had. So, on a dark and stormy night, I killed him. I punched him in the throat repeatedly with these and then I stabbed him in the heart. Then, I dug his grave and buried him six feet under. On his grave I left forty seven jelly beans. The exact number of years he had lived. And that was the beginning of the end. I met you, seemingly for the first time though you and I had been somewhat friends, and beat you and then you became my best friend. Like a brother but twenty times better. I didn't have a brother and you'd lost your sister, so we were cut from the same cloth. Rebellious, mean, cold hearted. But at the same time, we were respectful, loving, kind, and sensitive. We both brought the best of each other out..." she trailed off.  
"You never beat me!" Hayato scoffed.  
"Oh really? Pull up your shirt." she grinned, eyes narrowed.  
"No." Hayato protested.  
"Pull it up!" Katrina cackled.  
"No!" he cried, stepping back.  
"Pull it up!" she hissed, moving closer.  
"No!" Hayato jumped backwards.  
"UP!" Katrina snapped.  
"Fine..." he sneered, giving in. Hayato pulled up his shirt, revealing row after row of dynamite. Katrina pulled the explosives off him and then pointed at his stomach. Eight circular marks on each of his sides were blatantly scarred into his flesh. Katrina held up her gloves and then pointed them towards each mark.  
"Didn't beat you my ass! Remember!" she pushed his shirt up even more, showing more of the circular marks all over his chest. "You passed out from loss of blood!"  
"did not!" he snarled, pushing her away.  
"Did too!" she taunted. Hayato backed her up against one of the warehouses thick metal walls and then pulled part of her shirt up. Burn marks singed her stomach, making it obvious that Hayato had scarred her as well.  
"Ha!" he said, pointing.  
"That is sexual harassment and I will not have it!" Katrina screeched.  
"Is not-" Hayato began.  
"IS TOO!" she interrupted loudly.  
"Haven't you ever heard the saying it's not rape if you like it?" Hayato cackled.  
"I need to buy you a book of proverbs or something because this makeshift crap has got to go." Katrina dusted herself off. She grabbed the two pistols and placed them carefully in the pockets of her saggy cargo pants. She closed the box up and then Hayato's necklaces.  
"Ah let go!" he slapped at her forearms.  
"Come on, let's go find Reborn and Tsuna." she dragged him along.

After a good deal of struggling, the two made it to Tsuna's house.  
"So where have you been staying?" Katrina inquired, gripping a windowsill.  
"Nowhere, I've been sleeping out in the open with my suitcase for the past few days." he grumbled.  
"That's hardly right! My somewhat brother, I have an extra cot lying around in my little slice of heaven... Join me! You can watch me deal things to the gangsters around here. You can help reel in potential customers!" she piped. Katrina ripped the window open and clawed her way inside.  
"I'm not saying no, but I'm not saying yes." Hayato followed clumsily, as climbing was not one of his strong suits.  
"REBORN! TSUNA! YOU HERE?" she screamed. Reborn was playing happily with a flamethrower and looked up. Tsuna was fast asleep on his bed, drooling slightly.  
"Ciaossu! Hello, Kat Candy." Reborn smiled.  
"Ciao! I missed you sweetie!" Katrina cried. She swung the child up in her arms and planted a large kiss on his cheek.  
"Sweetie?" Hayato raised an eyebrow.  
"We used to date. And we never really ended the relationship so we are, in a sense, still together. However, I left for here and that was pretty much the end of it." Reborn replied coolly.  
"He knows his way around a woman I'll tell you that. I've never met a smoother guy. Especially not Hayato..." Katrina remarked blankly.  
"I'm pretty smooth!" Hayato protested.  
"Oh really? News to me." she smirked. Hayato growled at her and then barred his teeth.  
"So why have you come, Katrina?" Reborn asked.  
"I have come to join the Vongola family. As an arms dealer. I have brought a piece offering to show my skill." she set the child down and then padded over to Tsuna.  
"You want to join the family? It would be smart for 10th to be in direct relation with an arms dealer and weapon provider. Every mafia has one after all. I accept this; however, I would like to see this peace offering." Reborn retorted.  
"As you wish." Katrina bowed slightly and reached in her pocket. She pulled out the two guns and handed them to Reborn. The boy ran his hands over them carefully and nodded.  
"Impeccable craftsmanship. But do they shoot?" he asked. Katrina nodded and motioned for him to try. Reborn stepped up to the window and shot a few times.  
"Good, very good in fact. Welcome to the Vongola family. Let us tell Tsuna."  
"TSUNA! WAKE UP FAT ASS!" Katrina shouted. She shook the boy with all her might and then pulled back. Tsuna, extremely startled, pulled backwards and slammed his head on the head board of his bed.  
"You're that crazy girl from Nezu's class! Why are you here?" he shrieked. Hayato waved with a smile from behind her.  
"Yo 10th. Meet my friend Katrina." he grinned. Katrina waved as well and then pulled her arms around Hayato's neck.  
"He's my bestie! My favorite hitman aside from Reborn. We grew up together." she nodded.  
"Reborn! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" Tsuna screeched.  
"Meet Katrina Castorini also known as, Kat Candy. She's a blades and weapons specialist and an arms dealer. Kat worked for the Vongola family alongside our main arms dealer, Gianni. He trained her but she has more skill than him at making weapons. She always follows the instructions down to the letter and never makes her own modifications. Katrina is also better at selling weapons and finding clients than him. She has many different ways of convincing men to buy her wears. Some of which are considered unholy and bad. To conclude, she has joined the family." Reborn yawned.  
"Aww! You do love me! Thanks for the introduction but I can take it from here. BEHOLD!" she whipped out the dual pistols. "The greatest and best made pistols you'll ever experience. Deadly silent and insanely accurate. You could kill someone miles away with this baby. Blow their heads clean off. Forty four calibers with an elegant design that is personalized for the Vongola family! I've spent my life on this-"  
"not much of a life..." Hayato smirked back.  
"I've spent most of my amazing AND," she kneed Hayato in the groin. "Useful life making these. Along with others. This is my peace offering to be accepted into your family. Of course, Reborn has already accepted me so... I'm going to follow you around at school and stalk you obsessively. Just kidding! I'm just going to be in your family... And follow you around."  
"yes, you need to learn to establish connections with those who could benefit you potentially as a mafia boss. Hence her being and arms dealer. Every mafia boss knows at least one good dealer and she's also a hitman. Which is an added bonus. If you create a good enough bond with her, she may give you discounts or possibly even free samples." Reborn noted. Tsuna stared at the expectant Katrina who was holding the guns out for him.  
"Eh... No thanks..." he inched backwards under his covers. Katrina immediately narrowed her eyes.  
"No, thanks?" she hissed. "Reborn you didn't tell me the 10th was a pussy."  
"I'm not a-" Tsuna protested.  
"Then try the guns. Show me you can actually fire one. Otherwise..." she trailed off.  
"It would be wise to take advantage of this. Arms dealers can be finicky when their entire life is turned down." Reborn suggested. Tsuna groaned to himself, head aching.  
"w-why doesn't Hayato try it?" he asked, stuttering.  
"Is 10th wants me to..." Hayato clawed at the guns, itching to shoot them. "I suppose I could try."  
"you aren't the 10th, are you? You're not the heir to the Vongola throne, are you? You're not going to employ me and pay me to sell you guns, are you?" she hissed. "Tsuna must do it or I'll make sure no one, NO ONE, sells him any weaponry."  
"Hayato, why don't you show her out?" Tsuna begged.  
"Um... Well... 10th, she could be useful to us. I'd hate to see you not rule over the mafia well. Arms dealers are needed so..." Hayato trailed off. "Sorry..."  
"try. The. Pistols." Katrina growled. She climbed on top of Tsuna and pressed the gun into his head.  
"It may be a wise decision to try the guns, Tsuna." Reborn shrugged. Tsuna gulped and then nodded, face pale.  
"Good! I'm glad we could come to a decision! You should notice these are perfectly balanced and of the highest quality material. The engraving was especially hard to do and you'll notice that family is written on the handle. I chose to write that because it's really an ideal and moral of all Italians and mafias. Family is important whether you consider your friends your family or your real family your family. Personally, I consider Hayato and Gianni my family. They've always stuck by me and I love them. I'm sure family is an ideal you support as well. Anyway, try the new gun please. It's specially made to be quoted than other pistols, my personal twist on it. Just fire it anywhere!" Katrina chimed. Tsuna smacked his forehead and pulled the guns into his own hands. He mumbled under his breath and climbed out of bed. Tsuna crawled over to the window and then peeked around. No one was out and the boy carelessly shot at the street below.  
"Wonderful, great!" he lied, putting the guns in a drawer under some clothes. "Really fabulous job."  
"I'm not going to fall for that... Well, thanks for trying them anyway. You are family now and as long as you don't betray me, I will remain loyal. Come on then Hayato! Let's get back to the base." Katrina bowed to Tsuna.  
"Good bye Tsuna." Hayato waved a cigarette still in his mouth.  
"Bye Reborn!" Katrina kissed him on the cheek and then waved cutely. "Heart you!"  
"geh let's go..." Hayato grabbed Katrina's arm and dragged her out the window. The two stalked their way back to the warehouse in the dusky light.

"Any dynamite in these?" Hayato prodded a few crates.  
"Just a lot of candy," Katrina gnawed on candy cane. "And some grenades and some moonshine and some assorted guns. Mainly candy and booze. I don't have a one track mind, if you know what I mean."  
"of course, I see. Got any cigs?" Hayato asked.  
"Got something way better!" Katrina uncrossed her legs and set down a magazine. She walked over to a rusted file cabinet and grabbed the handle. Katrina jerked the case open and pulled out a few boxes. "Over here Hayato! Alright I have Italian cigarettes, Italian cigars, and a special, special, treat... Authentic high quality Cuban cigars. The real crap, not that disgusting fake knock off shit. Want one?"  
"hell yes..." Hayato outstretched his fingers.  
"Oh, you think it's going to be just that easy?" Katrina smirked.  
"I was hoping but with you, no." he grumbled.  
"All right! If you want the cigar, then grab it. Only one rule, no weapons cam is used. Just speed and determination." she grinned.  
"Game on. I can take you." Hayato narrowed his eyes.  
"Three, two... ONE!" she shouted. Katrina jumped out of the metal chair and bounded away. She jumped up onto a stack of crates, box in her arms. Expecting to see Hayato stumbling after her, no one was there. "H-Hayato?" she called. There was no answer. Something grabbed her neck in a choke hold.  
"Right here, Kat." he whispered. "Getting rusty?"  
"not," she elbowed him in the groin and then slipped away. "In the slightest. I keep myself," she bounced off a wall. "In top condition." Katrina flipped in mid air. "So that, if, I need to," she cart wheeled around crates and guns. "I can," Katrina ran straight up a wall and jumped off it so she landed right next to Hayato. "Kick ass."  
"oh really?" Hayato raised an eyebrow. "I don't need to be psychically fit to kick ass."  
"but you need to be to get your precious cigars! Come on boy! Come get the treat boy!" Katrina taunted. She waved the box in front of him and then back flipped off the side of the box.  
"I'm not a god damn dog!" he shouted. Hayato made and angry grab for the slippery girl.  
"Pretty sure you're a goddamn one." Katrina narrowed her eyes. She expertly clawed up a wall and then peered back at Hayato. Her eyes, bright green, shone in the dim ware house and stared at the boy. They reminded Hayato of a hungry panther, trying to snatch up its next meal. Panthers had always been Hayato's favorite animals, black like smoke and powerful like the explosives said smoke came from. Panthers were also fast which was one of Katrina's main skills.  
"I know," he gripped the uneven places where the metal had been riveted together and climbed after her. "I'm going to hell. The question is, am I going today or tomorrow?"  
"you know what's always been a dream of mine?" Katrina interjected, swinging from an old lamp.  
"What?" Hayato asked, following close behind her.  
"Well, I have two. The first is to rule the world. But the second is to live forever. Be immortal. That way, I'd continue killing forever. I could deal to so many people and set up operations in every major city from here to Los Angeles. I'd be so rich I could buy the entire world. What would you call the world if you owned it?" she flipped about, ripping the top off a crate.  
"I'd name it Hayato's playground. You?" he replied.  
"Maybe Pandora's box or Katland." she shrugged. "I wouldn't be all that picky. Would you if you were the dictator of every human? I never consider myself human. You?"  
"well," Hayato grabbed her shirt. Katrina fell backwards but rolled out of the fall with ease and jumped onto the wall. "Somewhat. Just not completely human."  
"Oh, I see. I don't consider myself human because I don't feel a whole lot of guilt or resentment. God this just got deep. But anyway," she pulled a chocolate bar out of her pocket and ate the entire thing. Katrina balled the wrapper up and threw it at Hayato. The wrapper hit him in the middle of his forehead and he growled.  
"FOUL!" he snapped. "You said no weapons that classifies as a weapon! You could kill someone with it, I get the cigars." Hayato climbed up to her.  
"Geh... I hate it when you're right about the rules of games I've made up. Here, take 'em I don't smoke." Katrina threw the box at Hayato. He reached out to grab them but lost his footing and fell on the ground. Katrina let out a loud boisterous laugh and jumped down. She extended a hand for him and yanked him upright. "REVENGE IS MINE!"  
"I fell that was my own doing not yours. You didn't get revenge for anything." Hayato rolled his eyes.  
"Ha! I just made you admit it was your fault for slipping and falling! Revenge IS mine!" she smirked.  
"I just want you to know you fill me with a rage that cannot be described by human words." he sneered. Hayato ripped the box open and inhaled. The smell of Cuba and tobacco filled his nostrils pleasingly. He pulled out a cigar cutter and clipped the end off. Hayato lit the sausage like roll of nicotine and put it to his mouth.  
"You look SOOOO cute and mob bossish like that! I just want to eat you!" Katrina cooed. She grabbed his cheeks and stretched the extra skin out.  
"IMA FUGKING KILL JO!" he shouted.  
"Ima kill Jo too. So adorable!" Katrina cackled. She released his cheeks and patted Hayato on the head like a dog.  
"Like I said, a rage that cannot be explained..." he said, steam practically pouring from his ears.  
"I love you too! Now scamper off to bed, mommy has some important errands to run! In other words, I got a deal to go trade some weapons for some cocaine and you know how the people over here like cocaine. By honey! Here's a treat for while I'm gone." she threw a package of gummy worms at him. "Play nice now and don't touch anything in mommy's office. I heart you! Bah-bye sweetie!" Katrina grabbed a crate and filled it with guns and grenades. She lifted it up carefully and stumbled outside, into the moonlight. Her hair and the brightly colored bands on her wrists shone brightly as Katrina padded away. Hayato puffed his cigar coolly and then shut the warehouses giant doors.  
"Again, a rage that cannot be explained..." he trailed off.


	2. Chapter 2

"HAYATO! WAKE UP WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!" Katrina screamed. She shook Hayato violently with her gloved hands. The bands on her arms jiggled crazily and she tackled him.  
"OH MY GOD, WHAT?" he shouted.  
"Get up fatass! We're gonna be late!" she hissed. Hayato rubbed his tired eyes and yawned.  
"Fine... Hey... Where's all my dynamite?" he cried, patting his chest. Katrina threw a few red sticks at him and then pulled her hair back.  
"I came back and you were passed out on my bed. MY bed. And, best part here, you left the cigar still burning. So, I dragged you over to YOUR cot and stripped all the dynamite off you. You'll get it all back once you prove to me you're responsible enough to have It." she grumbled.  
"You took all of it?" Hayato raised an eyebrow. Katrina nodded and balanced a stick on her finger before shoving it in one of her pockets. "God I feel violated right now..."  
"well suck it up and put on your uniform or whatever." she ordered. Hayato rolled out of bed and pulled on a short sleeved dress shirt and a pair of dress pants.  
"Shouldn't you be wearing a uniform too?" he asked blatantly. Katrina rolled her green eyes and then frowned.  
"Don't have to as long as I don't get caught without it. You know how slippery I am, I can pull it off. Plus, polyester does not look good on Me." she replied.  
"What if the all powerful jackass Nezu says something? Then what?" Hayato said. He shoved a few books in his backpack coolly.  
"Then I'll work my magic. My magical magicness which rules over all of the school teachers." she grinned diabolically. "As demonstrated yesterday."  
"uh-huh... Come on, let's get out of here." Hayato grumbled. Katrina bounced up behind him and nodded. She pulled out a piece of paper and pointed at a line of text.  
"What's home economics?" Katrina asked. Hayato sighed and then pulled the paper away from her.  
"It's a cooking class basically. You should know, you signed up for it, didn't you?" he remarked, wading the schedule up and tossing it on the ground.  
"Cooking? Oh shit..." Katrina slapped her forehead. She disdainfully plucked the ball off the ground and then followed Gokudera out the door of the ware house.  
"Why? What's so bad about cooking?" Hayato mumbled, still rather tired and groggy from his rude wake up call.  
"I suck at it. Seriously, I could burn water. The last time I tried to cook..." her voice trailed off and she clutched her stomach. Hayato stopped in his tracks and turned to face her.  
"I know one person who is a worse cook than you..." he said, staring at her gravely. His stomach pulsed at the thought of the person he had in mind. A wave of nausea swept over him and he turned green.  
"Do you... I told you not to bring that up in your thoughts Hayato! Do you listen to anything I say?" Katrina growled.  
"You were the one who brought up god damn bad cooking!" Hayato snarled, sweat dripping from his face.  
"Oh so now it's MY fault?" she demanded. Katrina grabbed his head and shook it with extreme force. "Leave it to you to make this about me! Blame everything on someone else that's the Gokudera way! If you just went up to her and faced your fear it would all go away!"  
"YOU THINK I HAVEN'T TRIED THAT ALREADY? WELL NEWS FLASH! I HAVE AND THE RESULTS WERE NOT WHAT I HAD IN MIND! SO MAYBE, FOR ONCE, YOU SHOULD TRY AND BE A LITTLE MORE COMFORTING THAN WHAT YOU NORMALLY ARE! MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRY AND FACE YOUR FEAR OF WATCHING SOMEONE WHO'S JUST A LITTLE BIT VULNERABLE AT THE MOMENT! "Hayato screeched. Katrina stepped back. She placed a hand over her thin lips and then looked down. Katrina stayed stationary as Hayato thundered down the street. She sank down to knees momentarily, dirtying the edge of her neon green tee shirt dress. Katrina frowned deeply and furrowed her brow. Immediately, she sprinted after Hayato.

Katrina placed a gloved hand on his shoulder. He slapped it away with a growl.  
"Gokudera..." she mumbled.  
"What? Did you come here to make fun of me some more? Maybe give me another piece of Dr. Phil advice?" he snapped, gritting his teeth.  
"I'm sorry... It's just that... You're like my family... And whenever I would come to work all sad... You'd let me throw some of your dynamite and you'd cheer me up by getting angry and telling me to face him myself... You'd tell me I could overthrow him easily and then ask me why I hadn't yet... And since I never had anyone else to idolize or look up too... To act like or want to be like... I just tried to do what you did... I'm sorry, Hayato." she muttered. Her hair had fallen down letting large curls of dark brown gather around her shoulders. Hayato stared blankly at her for a few moments. Her eyes cut deeply into his mind, like a saw blade into an inattentive man's fingers. She kept her gaze straight with his and frowned. No matter how hard he tried, Hayato could not stay mad at her. Not only had he raised her like a sibling, he also had a rather large soft spot for her. Especially her eyes. They seemed to claw at you and tear away at your anger or happiness, depending on her mood. Katrina's big, bright, green eyes seemed to envelop Hayato slowly. They swallowed him up until, as expected, he felt no need to be angry with her.  
"You just need to work on reading how people will react more..." he murmured. Katrina wrapped her arms around him gingerly. He patted her back and smiled to himself.  
"I'm just not used to being the shoulder to cry on. But I'll get better, I swear. I really am sorry Hayato, you know I am... Right?" she whispered.  
"Right..." he retorted. The first bell sounded and Hayato grabbed her wrist. "Come on, let's go."  
"thanks Hayato..." she whispered.  
"Oh, I forgot, how did your deal go last night?" he asked, lighting a cigarette. Katrina cackled evilly and then grinned. She reached into the side of her boot and pulled out a few small packets. Each was filled with white powder and blatantly marked 'cocaine'. Katrina then reached into her other boot and pulled out a wad of hundred dollar bills.  
"You brought cocaine to school? Don't be such a dumbass!" Hayato cried.  
"No, actually this is just powdered sugar in cool see through packets. I found it at some diner I went to last night after the deal. I was bored so I labeled them cocaine. If I have a client, I might sell them off as the real deal. I've heard you can't tell the difference if you're desperate enough. Plus, if I throw them in with regular cocaine to make the packets seem heavier, I can make even more money and they'll never know the difference!" she winked. Katrina shoved the packets back into her boot and tossed the wad of bills to Hayato.  
"Those are real though. There's like three or four K in there."  
"fuck... You made this much off one crate of crappy machine guns?" he said.  
"Yep! It's an arms dealer's job to sell less for more. And I'm really good at over selling things so they seem better than they are! Gianni always told me, 'they're five point eight million guns in circulation at the moment, that's about one gun per every twelve people. A dealers question is, how do we arm the other eleven'. That was our motto. Arm the other eleven... I miss him... But anyway! You over sell everything you can! You heard me talking about the pistols I made the other day with 10th, right?" Katrina mused. She plucked the money out Hayato's hands. She smiled at it and shoved it down into her boot.  
"Of course," Hayato pushed through the main doors. "So you exaggerate things to get more dough?" he threw his backpack down by his locker.  
"Yeah, basically. If you really want to hear more about the rules of the dealing game, I'll tell you all about it tonight!" Katrina beamed. She kicked her locker open and shoved everything inside. Katrina ripped out a binder and a tattered notebook with 'English, Math, and Science' scrawled on it. Next to the subjects was a drawing of a pudgy dinosaur eating someone, Hayato throwing a stick of dynamite, and Reborn with his gun aimed at Tsuna. Underneath her other scribbles was a large doodle of herself surrounded by money, guns, and candy. A few stains on the cover made it obvious she had been drinking soda while studying and hadn't cared to wipe up the spill.  
"Tonight as in a date?" Yamamoto Interrupted, placing and arm around Hayato.  
"Oh HELL no." Hayato snarled, pushing Takeshi's arm away. Yamamoto laughed and then smiled.  
"I'm just kidding! Who are you? Are you that Kat girl I've heard so much about? The one who single handedly overthrew Nezu yesterday?" he asked kindly.  
"Yep! You must be Takeshi Yamamoto! I heard about you from Hayato!" she extended her hand. Takeshi took and shook it heartily.  
"Oh so you know Hayato too?" he grinned.  
"Yeah! I'm the other member of the Vongola family." Katrina paused. "I'm Katrina Castorini. But, if you like, you can call me Kat candy."  
"oh! So Tsuna's cousin pulled you into that crazy little game too?" Yamamoto inquired. Katrina nodded joyously and then laughed.  
"Yeah, if you want to call it a game. You're on the baseball team right? The star, correct?" she smiled.  
"I wouldn't say I'm the star. Baseball is a team sport so everyone has to work together to do a good job. There really isn't a star in baseball. I just do my best to win is all." Yamamoto chuckled.  
"That's a very smart thing to say! I like you! Here," she pulled out a licorice whip and handed it to him. "Take one of these."  
"thanks! Well I better get to my next class! See you soon! Bye Hayato!" Yamamoto waved. Katrina waved back as well, smiling.  
"He's so cute! And so sweet too! Normally I hate guys like that but he's an exception!" she cooed. Hayato slapped his forehead and grumbled.  
"He's just an annoying air head. A pussy too... Him and his stupid baseball bat and his stupid little baseball hats... Makes me sick..." Hayato growled.  
"Jealous!" Katrina cried.  
"I'm not jealous of that!" Hayato protested, putting enough venom in the word 'that' to kill and elephant. He scowled and then made a low growling sound.  
"Jealous! Jealous, jealous, jealous, jealous!" Katrina sang and sprinted down the hallway. Hayato chased after her, waving his arms.  
"I'm not god damn jealous!" he shouted. Katrina disappeared into a classroom and Hayato followed in a disgruntled manner.

After a few mind numbing hours of English and science, Katrina headed for home economics. On her way to the classroom, she received a few high fives from random people who'd been in Nezu's class the other day. Each one either giving her a nod of approval or winking. Katrina slipped into her seat in home Ec. and then pulled out her notebook. She scribbled a picture of Yamamoto with his baseball bat smiling proudly. Katrina shaded in his messy hair and then smiled, as if approving her own work.  
"Alright class! Today we have two exciting treats!" the teacher began. "First off, we're going to be making rice balls! And second, we have a new student! Her name is Katrina Castorini. Would you please come up here Katrina?" she asked. Katrina strode up to the front of the classroom and held her hands out before slapping them down on her thighs.  
"Are we done now?" she raised an eyebrow.  
"Well, why don't you tell the class a little about yourself first?" the teacher suggested.  
"Hi, I'm Katrina. I'm from Italy I don't like real food. I live off candy, are we done NOW?" she grumbled. Katrina crossed her arms defiantly and then tapped her feet impatiently against the tile floor.  
"Is that all you have to share?" the teacher replied.  
"Okay, look, this isn't kindergarten I'm not four and neither is anyone else in the class. Sorry to break it to you, whatever your name is, but this is high school. Grow, up." she snapped. Katrina smiled and floated back to her seat. She flipped open her notebook and drew a very violent picture of her teacher, Mrs. Holmes, getting stabbed.  
"That is unacceptable behavior Katrina! But, because this is only your first full day, I'm letting you go with a warning." Mrs. Holmes frowned. Katrina flashed a fake smile and a thumbs up. "Now, let's get on with today's activities..." the teacher continued on in further detail but Katrina paid little heed. She continued to draw in her ratty book. First a picture of Tsuna as a giant fish, which made sense to her considering his name, had tuna in it. Then a picture of Reborn and Leon scowling angrily at Lambo. A drawing of Hayato being surrounded by a giant explosion also graced the pages of her book. And finally, a full picture of the Vongola family. Including Reborn, Tsuna, Takeshi, Hayato, and herself.  
"To your stations everyone!" Mrs. Holmes screeched, interrupting Katrina's idle doodling. "Katrina, you'll have to work alone in the back kitchen. I'm sorry. Please don't mess anything up."  
"aye aye Holmes!" Katrina chimed. She marched towards the very back kitchen and then grinned. An evil plan began to brew in her mind as she emptied a few of her pockets. One with bottles of coca cola, one with bottles of snow cone flavoring, and one with gummies. A diabolical expression spread across her face and she cackled. First, Katrina boiled some rice. Once it had been prepared, she boiled down a few bottles of coke and pulled the sugar packets out. She took what was left in the pot and dumped it into a cup measure. Katrina divided the gooey liquid evenly for four bowls. Then, she rolled a few gummy bears and gummy worms into each rice ball. Finally, she placed each ball into a bowl and coated the top with powdered sugar. Katrina grinned and then balanced the bowls on a platter. With only five minutes left in the period, she hurried out to the teacher.  
"Here you go." Katrina smiled, handing Mrs. Holmes a bowl.  
"What IS this?" she asked, repulsed by the lump of white rice standing in a pool of sugary syrup.  
"It's special! I made it myself, by my own recipe." Katrina winked. "Try it Mrs. Holmes!"  
"um... A-alright..." the teacher frowned. She stared at the bowl gravely and then pulled out a spoon. Mrs. Holmes prodded the brown substance at the bottom. She gathered up a small taste of the sticky goo. Katrina held back laughter as the teacher lifted the spoon to her mouth. She tasted it and then shrugged.  
"It's sweet, a nice change from what I normally have." Mrs. Holmes said. She then pressed the spoon into the rice ball carefully. Mrs. Holmes pulled off a chunk, taking a few gummy bears with it, and then gulped. Katrina stifled giggles again and watched with eager eyes. The teacher chewed thoughtfully and then nodded. A smile danced on her lips as she swallowed and then Mrs. Holmes went back for more.  
"It's really a revelation! Sweet and sticky with the savory rice undertone. I like it Katrina! A plus!"  
"really? I cooked something?" Katrina beamed.  
"Something good too. I'm sure the boys will be snatching your balls up." she nodded. Katrina let out a cackle at the teacher's statement and then she scurried back to her seat. The girl carelessly toyed with a spoon and gnawed on it. Katrina then popped a gumball into her mouth and chewed. It tasted sickly sweet and like watermelon. She sucked the flavor in and rested her head on her hand. Katrina began to drift off, slowly falling into a dream. She was standing on a giant cupcake, the rest of the Vongola family surrounding her.  
"I, Reborn, officially make you, Katrina Castorini, a guardian of the head of the Vongola family." Reborn said. The rest of the family cheered and congratulated her. "Though she was never a Vongola, she is a great hitman and an amazing arms dealer. It is with the highest honor that I allow her to watch over Tsuna and the Vongola family." he finished. Hayato clamped a hand on her shoulder and smiled calmly. Another hand was put on her shoulder and behind her was adult Lambo. One of his green eyes was shut but he was wide awake. Katrina hugged the man and then hugged Gokudera.  
"CLASS DISMISSED!" Mrs. Holmes screeched. Katrina snapped her head up quickly and she slammed it on the back of her chair. She grumbled and then picked up her notebook and rice balls. Katrina stalked out of the room and to her locker. She swung it open and tossed in the book before pulling out a well made knife. Its handle was the tail of a dragon and Katrina smiled at her work. She tucked the knife into one of the pockets on her dress and then walked away. She followed the other home economics students into the cafeteria tiredly. Having been up most of the night, dealing with a new client, she hadn't gotten much sleep. Purple and black bags lay under her bright eyes and she sighed. Most of the others dispersed to hand out their rice balls, mainly to the boys or girls they liked. Katrina wandered over to Hayato, Tsuna, and Yamamoto. She held up the platter with a grin.  
"Who wants to eat my balls?" she shouted. Hayato and Takeshi started cackling and marched over to her.  
"What exactly is that?" Hayato asked, slightly disgusted.  
"Boiled down coca cola. I also put gummy bears in the rice balls. Enjoy!" Katrina grinned.  
"Are they safe to eat?" Yamamoto inquired, poking the ball of rice and sweets. Katrina nodded unsurely.  
"Somewhat, yeah." she answered.  
"I guess I'll try one..." Hayato shrugged. He grabbed a bowl and stared at the glop in the bottom.  
"Me too..." Yamamoto also picked up a spoon and a bowl.  
"HEY TSUNA! WANT TO EAT MY BALLS?" Katrina shrieked. Tsuna snapped his head over to see the ecstatic girl waving. He shook his head and then wandered away.  
"Oh 10th... He'll learn about me yet he will." she giggled. Hayato ignored her comment and dug his spoon into the hardening goop at the bottom. He sniffed it cautiously while Yamamoto had already tasted it.  
"That's actually pretty good. It's different, I like that." Yamamoto smiled. He put another spoonful in his mouth and gave Katrina a thumbs up. Feeling challenged, Hayato immediately shoved a ton in his mouth. The sickly sweet taste enveloped him in a fog of candy flavor. He narrowly avoided gagging and managed to swallow the concoction.  
"Delicious," Hayato lied. "I could eat bowl after bowl of this stuff... It is so different but it is so good." he continued in monotone. Katrina moved her head close to Hayato's and then frowned.  
"You don't have to lie about it, jealous." she whispered.  
"What was that?" Yamamoto inquired, over halfway through the dish.  
"Nothing, Takeshi. What do you think?" she smiled warmly.  
"It is really delicious, like Hayato said, and it's also really different from the normal rice balls." he replied. Katrina cackled under her breath as Hayato nearly choked himself shoveling the rice into his mouth. He was undoubtedly trying to outdo Yamamoto and would go to any lengths to do so.  
"Amazing," Hayato belched, handing back the bowl. "Splendid! They really have a nice sweet over taste and then have a good savory under taste. Very, very, good."  
"mhmm...COUGH Jealous COUGH." she taunted. Hayato gave her a death stare and frowned.  
"not..." he whispered under his breath.  
"Thanks for your balls Katrina. You should come by sometime and watch one of my games." Yamamoto laughed. He patted Hayato's shoulder and then walked back over to Tsuna. Hayato followed in an angry fog, dragging his feet and crossing his arms. Katrina danced by Hayato and then put her lips to his ear.  
"Jealous little Gokudera. All he wants is to be Yamamoto and to be actually cool." she whispered softly.  
"Cool my ass, he's just a stuck up brat..." Hayato growled back.  
"A cute stuck up brat, though." Katrina winked.  
"Whatever..." he grumbled. Katrina whisked away, carrying the last rice ball and planning to eat it herself. "You should come by and watch one of my games sometime... Dick..." Hayato mocked softly.  
"Say something Gokudera?" Yamamoto asked.  
"Nothing at all..." Hayato snarled. Meanwhile, Katrina had walked over to an empty table and stretched out her arms. She yawned and then picked up a spoon.  
"Hey... Are you, that Katrina girl?" someone inquired. Katrina blinked and then tiredly nodded.  
"Yeah, I was the one being mean to Nezu yesterday." she mumbled.  
"Hi, I'm Ryohei Sasagawa. I'm the leader of the boxing club and you should join!" he grinned.  
"Oh! You guys have a boxing club here?" she asked, waking up a bit more.  
"Yeah it's totally extreme! We need some more members. You know strong and passionate people who are willing to stand up and fight! I heard about you from a few other people who happened to be in Nezu's yesterday, I figured that someone brave enough to stand up to that guy would be perfect for my club." Ryohei said enthusiastically.  
"Sounds awesome! I'd love to join!" Katrina agreed.  
"NEED MORE." Tsuna roared. Katrina and Ryohei snapped their heads up. Tsuna was clad only in a pair of boxers and a spout of fire was spewing out of his head. Katrina grabbed the final rice ball and ran. Tsuna sprinted after her, arms outstretched and reaching for the bowl of food. He tackled her and clawed for the rice ball. Katrina shoved her boot into his face and gritted her teeth.  
"NO. MY RICE BALL." she cried. Tsuna waved his arms around, desperately trying to grab the food. His stomach growled loudly and Katrina pushed him away.  
"I don't want to hurt you but if you keep this up I will kill you!" she threatened.  
"You can't kill the 10th..." Hayato protested.  
"Well then I suggest you remove him from my area!" Katrina shouted  
"food..." Tsuna moaned. Slowly, the puff of fire disappeared and Tsuna slowed. "Why is your foot in my face?"  
"because you were trying to eat MY rice balls. That's why." Katrina replied. Tsuna moved away and then looked down at himself. He turned bright red and then ran from the cafeteria. Most of the children burst into laughter and pointed at him. Katrina brushed herself off coolly. She headed off to her locker as the bell rang.

After a few more slow hours,  
Katrina jumped from her seat and thundered to her locker. She peered at her watch and then grinned.  
"Hayato! I need your help." Katrina clamped her hand down on his shoulder.  
"With what?" he asked. Hayato turned around, a few books in his hands.  
"Aww! You look so cute and scholarly!" she sang. Katrina poked his nose and smiled. Hayato swatted her hand away.  
"So what's the problem?"  
"well, the deal I made last night was great and the guys there asked me for a repeat deal. I need you to help me make it look like I'm sick so I can go home." Katrina beamed. Hayato sighed and then scratched at his head.  
"Okay, what do you want me to do?" he smiled deviously. Hayato remembered the wad of cash in Katrina's boot and he hungered for more.  
"Just take me to the office and play along okay? Then I'll meet you back at the warehouse after you finish the school day." she cackled.  
"Wait," he grabbed the back of her shirt. "Who says I don't want to go along? It's not like Nezu actually teaches us anything and my other classes after this are easy as Hell."  
"ohh, I see." Katrina winked. "In that case, here's the plan. You take me up to the office and say that I'm sick. I'll act really out of it and I have some green face paint in my locker I can use. Then, I want you to take the remains of my rice ball and keel down by the trash can. Drop the rice ball goo inside and then make some moaning sounds. I'll take a few other bits of rice ball and do the same thing. That way, they'll have no idea we aren't actually sick. After they start asking us if our parents our home we'll tell them that my mom is a single parent and a nurse and that your dad and mom are both teachers at a nearby university and they can't be interrupted for something like this. They'll probably ask us if there's any way we can get home. Say yes and that we can walk back together. But tread lightly on your exact dialogue because this might go wrong..."  
"I'll make sure it won't. Is the deal going to be dangerous, though?" Hayato inquired cautiously.  
"I'm only trading weapons like grenades and mini guns for cocaine and cash, what do you think?" she rolled her eyes.  
"Perfect... Can I have my dynamite back?" he grinned. Katrina shoved a hand in her locker and pulled out a few handfuls of dynamite. "Holy shit you brought it to school?"  
"I'm not one for being practical." she winked. Katrina tossed the explosives to Hayato and laughed.  
"What's so funny?" he said.  
"No one here thinks its real is what's so funny," she paused to cackle. "No one even cares."  
"let's go, put that face stuff on." Hayato ordered. He shoved the dynamite in his pockets and in his shoes carelessly. Katrina pulled a small box out of her messy locker and flipped it open. She pulled out a disk and clicked that open as well. Katrina pulled out a small brush and dabbed it on her cheekbones.  
"Get down here." she barked. Hayato followed her order and kneeled beside her. Katrina daintily painted a few smudges of green on his cheeks. She snapped the disk shut and then shoved it into her locker. Katrina pulled out the rice ball and the spoon from earlier. She whipped the goo together and then grabbed a few handfuls of it.  
"Put your arm around me." Hayato said.  
"Why? I don't want my arm near you." Katrina protested, snickering. "Plus I have all this crap in my hands."  
"just put your arm around me, it'll make it look like your actually sick and woozy." he replied, stretching his hand out. Katrina placed a handful of the glop in his palm and then smiled.  
"Like playing with mud but worse." she noted. Katrina placed her arm around him and groaned. She clutched her stomach with her free hand and let her mouth hang open slightly.  
"Oh god, are you okay? You look horrid." Yamamoto asked, approaching the two.  
"No... My stomach hurts and I'm really dizzy." she lied, smiling weakly.  
"Yeah, thanks to your shitty rice balls were both in the rung." Hayato commented.  
"Oh you feeling sick too Gokudera? I don't feel a thing. Sorry about that... Anything I can do?" Yamamoto frowned.  
"No, we're just heading up to office to go home. Thanks though." Katrina moaned.  
"Well, I'll see you two later than. Bye Katrina." Yamamoto smiled. He waved and then waltzed away.  
"Bye Katrina, I'm gonna go be stupid and play baseball..." Hayato mocked, sneering. Katrina slapped the side of his head, causing some rice to fall from her balled fist.  
"Don't be mean, he's nice. Jealous." she smirked.  
"I am NOT jealous of him." Hayato stamped his foot.  
"jeal-ous." she sang. Hayato growled and then jerked her along. They hobbled into the office and then set their plan into action.

"Can I help you?" a secretary asked.  
"Yes, my friend Katrina is feeling rather ill." Hayato replied. The secretary, who was wearing a bright orange moo moo dress and was extremely large, lowered her glasses.  
"Should I call your parents Hun? Or do you just want to lie down?" she inquired. Her voice was nasally and she had rows of wrinkles all over her face. Katrina thought she looked a lot like a pug dog and stifled a giggle.  
"My mom's a nurse and she doesn't use her cell phone at work, so you can call her but she won't answer." she lied.  
"I see... Well," the secretary's voice was also thick with a southern accent. "I guess you should just lie down then."  
"alright..." Katrina mumbled. She cursed silently and nodded at Hayato. He nodded back and then prepared himself.  
"Oh god..." Hayato muttered. He clutched his stomach and then plunged his head into the trash can. Hayato dropped the rice ball goo inside and made retching noises.  
"H-Hayato!" Katrina cried. She followed his lead and also collapsed onto her knees. Katrina shoved her head in the waste bin and scooped out the concoction of rice and sweets.  
"Oh my god. You guys need to get home immediately. Mr. Jason! Get in here and take this trash can out!" the secretary squealed. A husky looking custodian grumbled and stalked in.  
"why?" he growled.  
"These children just got sick all over it! It's covered in germs! Take it! Take it please!" she screeched. The custodian rolled a pair of blue eyes and then pushed Katrina and Hayato away. He grabbed the can and peered in.  
"god, no wonder your sick. What the hell did you eat?" he snapped.  
"I made rice balls today in h-home economics... That was probably it... I'm sorry Gokudera!" Katrina cried. The disgusted custodian dragged the bin away angrily.  
"Alright then, tell me both your names I'm calling your parents." the secretary demanded. She was an obvious germaphobe and Katrina got an evil idea.  
"Okay," Katrina pretended to sneeze and cough a few times. She clutched her stomach and fake gagged three times. When she looked up the secretary had an extremely weak expression on her face. "Oh dear... I think I'm going to be sick again!"  
"oh dear! Um okay! Just go! Go! Go right now! I'll contact your parents later just get home and in bed! Do not come back until you are fully rested and completely healthy! Take the entire weekend and wash all your bedding and clothing! Don't touch anyone or anything around here! Go! Go!" she cringed. The busty woman took out a package of Lysol disinfectant spray and wipes. She washed down her entire desk and then sprayed the area around her. The secretary put on a pair of gloves and shoved Katrina and Hayato out of the office. She threw the gloves on the ground and then put her hands on her face in disdain. Katrina and Hayato hurried away and then burst into hysterics.

"Did you see her face?" Katrina cackled. Hayato slammed a fist into her shoulder, eyes teary from laughter.  
"Fuck yes I did!" he screeched. "priceless."  
"oh Hayato that was beautiful! It was beautiful I tell you! Poor Yamamoto and Tsuna! They didn't get to enjoy that..." Katrina mused. She pulled some candy out of her pockets and gnawed on it.  
"Yeah, but not so bad for Yamamoto... He's too much of a goody goody to enjoy that. Pussy..." Hayato growled. He kicked a small pebble off the side walk and grumbled something inaudible under his breath.  
"Don't be so mean," Katrina slammed her body into his. "He's just a nice guy. Kudos on the acting by the way!" she cracked her knuckles and then punched the trunk of a tree. Katrina's bright eyes were beaming with enthusiasm and evil thoughts.  
"Thanks, not to bad yourself." Hayato smiled.  
"Ah! Here we are! My beautiful little shack. Oh how I love thee." she cooed. Katrina stepped on the sheet of metal again and the gate slid open. She danced inside and dragged Hayato along with her. Katrina carefully weaved her way through more booby traps, Hayato in tow. She threw the warehouse doors open and took a deep breath.  
"The life of an arms dealer..." she beamed. "Washing down five courses of hot lead with a napalm cocktail."  
"you could put it that way." Hayato commented on her odd analogy. Katrina ignored him and simply led him towards her personal room. She swung another door open, revealing another area of the warehouse. The cement floor was littered with candy wrappers and scraps of metal. A few pounds of C-4 lay in the corner and a couple crates containing unknown supplies were stacked on a giant bed. Katrina ripped open a closet and pulled Hayato inside. She spun around a few times and then flicked on a light. Rows of shirts and dresses filled the walk in closet nicely.  
"Why are we in here?" Hayato asked, prodding a box.  
"Because silly! In arms dealing you dress for success. Suits, formal dresses, gloves, ties! All of that gorgeous stuff! Here," Katrina paused. She dug around in the back of the closet and pulled out a suit which hung in a dry cleaning bag. It consisted of a pair of black slacks, a black coat, a black tie, and a white dress shirt. Katrina also grabbed a pair of rat pack shoes and held them out for Hayato. "These are yours." she smiled.  
"Why do you have them?" Hayato inquired. He plucked the outfit out of her hands.  
"Well, remember a little while back? Right before you left for here? The day we went out for dinner and ran the sting on that other guy. You wore that suit and I wore this." Katrina dug around for a moment. She pulled out a black dress with thin straps. It was bunched up at different points and had a medium sized black bow on the top. Hayato immediately remembered the last few days he'd spent in Italy. The two had gone crazy those last days. They'd taken down at least seven targets together. The final mission they had done together had been taking down a courier for another mafia. He was carrying an important document with information about plans for taking down the Vongola's on it. But, instead of following orders and delivering the message on time, he'd stopped for a nice dinner. Hayato and Katrina had both hurriedly dressed up for the occasion. They'd rushed to the restaurant in their formal attire. They had followed the man out behind the cafe and shot him. However, the message they'd found had been extremely anti climatic. It had only been a few drawings and a rough sketch of a plan for world domination.  
"I remember. How could I forget?" Hayato replied, snapping back into the present.  
"It was an extremely memorable occasion, was it not? God, I sounded really British just then..." Katrina mumbled. Hayato laughed and unbuttoned his school shirt.  
"I'll be right back Hayato! Just have to change. Don't come out of this closet until I say so." Katrina said. She floated out of the room, holding the black dress. Katrina flamboyantly changed into the formal outfit and then wallowed through a sea of candy wrappers to reach the mirror. She flattened it out a bit and then groaned. Katrina hated fluffy girl dresses like that one. The only kinds of girly things she liked were skirts and that was only when they were short and bright colored. She brushed it off and then let her hair down. A few disgruntled briefings later, she knocked on the closet door. Her spiked gloves made an odd screeching sound against the metal and she giggled.  
"It still fits, unfortunately." Hayato grumbled, also unhappy about the attire. He slid the door open without much effort and then grinned.  
"I feel like we're bringing sexy back, you know?" Katrina beamed.  
"No, I really don't understand what you're saying." Hayato remarked.  
"Come on, I'll explain on our way there. Tuck your necklace in." she swatted her hand at him.  
"No..." Hayato protested. Katrina groaned loudly and then whipped around. She grabbed the silver dog tag necklace and then shoved it down his shirt.  
"Dress well and we'll actually get somewhere with these guys." she mumbled.  
"Why? Explain to me why we have to dress so well for this." he asked.  
"God Hayato," Katrina carefully selected a box and shoved it at him. He stumbled backwards under the immense weight of the crate and grunted softly. "Allow me to tell you why. If we were to go in our normal street clothes, you in one of your shirts and a pair of jeans and me in my usual bright and colorful attire, they would probably think we were joking. No one makes a deal with someone who's not serious. That's like trying to talk to a clown, it's pointless. And the other reason is that this way, we let them know we are professionals. If we weren't badass and serious looking, we'd just look like a couple junkies who got their grubby hands on some Uzis. No, no... We have to portray what we sell. What are guns Hayato? They are powerful, they are intimidating, they are sexy, and they are seductive. Right now, do we not show all of these qualities? Are we not as good as the guns I sell?"  
"okay... I see your point now." Hayato agreed. Katrina pulled out two pairs of sunglasses and put one on Hayato's crate. She slid the others over her eyes and then nodded to herself. Katrina paused by another mirror near the front door and she tossed a curly strand of hair out of her face. She slipped the sunglasses onto Hayato and then smiled at him.  
"We are so hot right now." Katrina beamed. She swung her arms out wide and then danced from the warehouse.  
"I am really hot in this; it's like four hundred degrees out here..." Hayato complained. Katrina stopped in her place and swung around. She stuck a finger in Hayato's face and growled.  
"Don't sweat in that suit Hayato... Don't sweat in that suit."  
"um, I don't think that's really something I can help." Hayato shrugged. He adjusted the box in his hands and grunted.  
"Oh, hey, before we get there I should tell you how this is going to go down." Katrina said.  
"That might be nice..." Hayato huffed.  
"You have your cell phone right?" she asked.  
"Yes, I have my cell phone with me." he sneered.  
"Alright, here it is. The warehouse the deals going down in is just a bit farther south. What's going to happen is this. You and I walk kind of slow so it looks really cool to the other guys. That's the first thing right there. You have to walk like slow motion right before a bomb goes off in a James bond movie. Then, we go inside with the crate and talk to the big man. He'll ask us some questions about the guns and then probably do a test run. After he's done and he gives us what we came for, we just walk home. But not in James Bond slow mo. Oh! And I want you to talk in like a Swedish accent, something really badass. Got all that?" Katrina grinned. She ripped open a chocolate bar and happily gnawed it.  
"Swedish accent? Really?" Hayato groaned.  
"Yep! Like a rich Swedish brat. Oh! And take out your cell phone like it was vibrating and pretend to answer it. Say something like, 'come' or 'we must go my sweet.'" Katrina beamed. Her eyes were now great pools of excitement and joy.  
"God... Okay, is this the place?" he pointed toward another abandon warehouse. A single light was on and Katrina nodded.  
"Slow motion time in one, two, and three..." she narrowed her eyes under the sunglasses. Hayato began walking at a decently slow pace and Katrina followed. "We must look so badass right now!"  
"this does probably look pretty cool." Hayato smiled.  
"NO smiling!" Katrina hissed.  
"What? Why?" he said, confused.  
"Because straight faces let them know we're really serious." she replied hastily. By then, the two had made it to the warehouse doors. A man, who also wore a nicely tailored suit, opened the door.

"Kat candy, we meet again. But who's the friend?" the man said.  
"A business associate. I needed someone to hold the crate, did I not?" she retorted.  
"Come have him put it down inside. Then, have drinks with me I like to know who I'm working with." he ordered.  
"We don't drink, sorry." Katrina remarked. The man led Hayato inside and pointed to a spot on the floor. Hayato dropped the crate and then crossed his arms.  
"Oh, I suppose that's right. Well, in that case, have some non alcoholic wine, I insist." he grinned. Katrina, now weary, moved closer to Hayato.  
"If the man insists..." Hayato said voice thick with accent. Katrina nearly lost her cool at that. She held back wild cackles just barely.  
"Yes, darling, if the man insists." Katrina danced her fingers around Hayato's face. His first impulse was to smack them away but he restrained.  
"Come then! Come to my table please." he led them to a small circular table. The man pulled the seat out for Katrina but did nothing to help Hayato. He then disappeared into another room. The man came out with a bottle of wine, which neither Hayato nor Katrina knew was actually alcoholic, and set it down. He ripped the cork off with his bare hands and then poured each of the tables residents a glass.  
"So tell me about yourself, Mr. Business Associate. How could Katrina possibly use you?"  
"I only hold crates for her and occasionally money. I own a few offshore bank accounts and fake identities. She also uses me for many other purposes." Hayato said, playing up the Swedish accent a bit too much. Katrina nodded along with his statement and then smiled.  
"Yes, Mr. Business Associate is a very helpful man." she cooed.  
"I see where you come from?" the man asked.  
"I come from Sweden." Hayato lied. He took a sip of the fine wine coolly. Katrina followed his example and also gulped down some wine. It was bitter but still good.  
"Italy, I worked there as a hitman and an arms dealer. Ask anyone." Katrina said. The man folded his hands together and then leaned back.  
"I did, I called up a few friends from Italy. I came from there too. And what I found was that you had a business associate back then named smoking bomb Hayato. I was curious so I had a photo sent and is the man in this picture not Hayato Gokudera?" he held up a small photo. In it was Katrina, arms wound around Hayato and Hayato's arms around her waist. That picture had been from the night they'd killed the courier. The two had needed a somewhat non suspicious way to be out back when the courier left. So they'd pretended to be young lovers. The second the courier had walked past, they had pulled out their guns. And that had been the end of it. But how someone could have obtained a photo like that baffled the two. Katrina gritted her teeth and Hayato balled his hands into fists.  
"It is in fact Hayato Gokudera." she growled.  
"And this man, sitting here, does he not look like Mr. Gokudera?" the man inquired.  
"I am Hayato Gokudera." Hayato stood up. He let his voice go back to normal.  
"And I'm Katrina Castorini." she also stood.  
"We're both from Italy." Hayato said.  
"We're both hitman." Katrina beamed.  
"And you are both romantically involved, are you not?" the man asked. He stood up and threw the table down. "And, you are now both liars. I will not work with liars, no I will not. So prove to me you speak the truth."  
"and how are we supposed to do that?" Katrina asked.  
"Well, I have profiles on both of you. Profiles that tell me everything about you. I bought them from the Vongolas saying I was a potential client. Now, let's begin with you Ms. Kat Candy." the man said. He snapped and a group of what seemed to be minions brought the man a laptop.  
"Fire away, my friend." Katrina sneered. She sat lightly on the crate she'd brought. Hayato joined her coolly.  
"First Boyfriend." the man said.  
"Lambo Bovino." Katrina remarked.  
"You dated crybaby Lambo?" Hayato asked in monotone.  
"It's a long story but he's totally hot in ten years." Katrina winked.  
"Truthful. Now it's your turn, smoking bomb. Name any siblings you have." the man said.  
"Bianchi... That's all." Hayato cringed. Katrina patted his hand lightly and then smiled.  
"Untruthful. She's only your half sister," the man pulled a gun from his belt. He aimed it at Hayato's head and then laughed. "That doesn't count. Since that was untruthful... Now I have to kill you. I don't like liars. Not one bit. My mom was a liar, a cheater. She was always with men other than my dad, she was unfaithful. So, I ran away. She didn't take any part in raising me and she was constantly fighting with my dad. I came here to start my own mafia, I might say, not to toot my own horn but, it's going very well. Anyway, since you lie and cheat, you will die." he cocked his gun and cackled. "Bye bye, smoking bomb." the man slowly pressed his finger down. He savored every second of that power. The god like feeling of controlling a person's life filled him like water fills a sponge. Hayato winced and didn't move. "Open your eyes. I want to watch your face as you die." Hayato followed the order and opened his gray eyes. The next thing he saw was Katrina's giant spiked boot slamming into his face.  
"That's for giving me goddamn bad cocaine douche bag!" she shouted. Katrina flexed her foot just right so the bottom spike shot out. They stabbed through the man's head, killing him instantly. A swarm of guards enveloped the two immediately. Hayato jumped from his perch on the crate, still slightly stunned, and pulled out a lighter. Katrina grabbed the man's pistol with determination and then looked around. Over twenty henchmen surrounded them and any pursuit seemed hopeless.  
"Fire at will." one hissed. Hayato backed up, stick of dynamite held in his hand, and bumped into Katrina.  
"Hayato," she whispered urgently.  
"What?" he growled.  
"The guns don't work. I fixed them specifically so they wouldn't. The boss sold me bad cocaine so when he wasn't looking, I ripped out a few vital components. On the count of three, jump onto that crate then, throw some unlit dynamite and make a run for the door. Once we're out, the rest will be easy. Ready?" she whispered extremely quietly.  
"One, two, THREE!" Hayato shouted. Katrina slammed her right leg into a man's chest, allowing a path for Hayato. She punched another in the temple, shoving the knuckle spikes into his head. Hayato chucked an unlit stick of dynamite down and a few henchmen ran. Katrina heard the sound of guns clicking unsuccessfully as she pried the dead body off her gloves. Hayato was already half way down the street by the time she reached the door. Katrina got down on all fours and went thundering after him.

"Oh my god. H-HOLY SHIT!" Hayato screeched. He collapsed onto the ground and Katrina fell onto his chest.  
"Took the words right out of my mouth." she panted.  
"WHAT THE? HOW THE? ... FUCK!" Hayato shouted. He leaned his head against a tree trunk and slapped his face. "Did that REALLY just happen?"  
"yes, I'm pretty sure because there's brain goo all over my glove spikes! And there's blood on my boots! I need to go clean myself off!" Katrina slapped her face as well.  
"Holy shit Katrina. We just killed three guys and mortally wounded one. H-how are we going to explain this exactly?" He gasped. Katrina smiled weakly and then laughed.  
"We don't have to explain it to anyone... Not unless a cop comes by and starts interrogating us." she grinned. Hayato also started laughing; a kind of weak cackle broke the silence. The two of them began to giggle and grin as though they were on drugs. They worked themselves into hysterics over her statement. An easy going feeling washed over the couple like a wave and they simply lay on the sidewalk. Katrina peered at her watch, still chuckling.  
"It's only one, let's go do something." she said. Just then, a police patrol car rolled up to them. Katrina froze in her place and shut her eyes tightly. Hayato grimaced, staring up at the shiny car. The policeman rolled down the window and frowned.  
"So, what're you two doing out here? Shouldn't you be in school?" he grunted. Hayato glanced around nervously, considering the fact they'd just killed three men, and then pointed to Katrina.  
"w-we're sick. The office sent us b-back early. My friend fainted and I can't get up." Hayato stuttered. He winced at the stupidity of his story and then cursed under his breath.  
"Oh god is she okay?" the man cried.  
"Oh yeah! She's fine. You see, she has this terrible disease where she faints really often. It's called fainting disorder. She'll wake up in a second, no worries." Hayato lied.  
"Oh, I see. Do you maybe need a lift then? I can take you two home." he offered.  
"No! We're just fine thanks. I'll get us home." Hayato protested.  
"Well, alright. I'm trusting you right now and if I find out you ditched school, I'll be really unhappy." the policemen replied. He rolled up his window and drove away slowly. Katrina snapped her head up the second her was gone. She exchanged a strange glance with Hayato and then the two burst into hysterics again. They stumbled down the street, ramming into each other occasionally.  
"God I can't believe what just happened." Hayato mused, stumbling on the sidewalk.  
"I know man! That was INSANE!" Katrina cackled. She slammed her foot down on the scrap metal and the gate slowly screeched open. Katrina bounced off the fence and rolled before extending her hands out at the perfect time. She sprung into the air and then cart wheeled across a large gap. Katrina slowed and then danced through a field of mines. Once finished jumping about, she pressed a few buttons and entered a code.  
"COME ON FATASS! SECURITYS DEACTIVATED!" she shouted. Hayato wearily walked to the doors of the warehouse. Katrina flicked the lights on and then landed face first on the cot.  
"Make room..." Hayato grumbled. He shoved Katrina off the bed and flopped down instead. She opened her eyes slowly and noticed a small figure under the bed. It had huge black hair and two small horns on each side of its head. The creature was wearing a suit with cow print on it, complete with a tail.  
"LAMBO?" Katrina shrieked. The little boy remained asleep, snoring loudly. Katrina pulled his tail and slid him out from under the bed. She poked his stomach a few times and the boy woke up.  
"Katrina!" he grinned. Lambo clamped his arms around her joyously.  
"Why are you here Lambo?" she asked, stroking his hair. Lambo curled up in her arms happily.  
"I'm here to kill Reborn! That way I can prove I'm good enough to be the boss of the Bovino family!" he cheered. Hayato flopped over to face upwards and then sighed.  
"Because last time you tried that it worked out so well." he grumbled. Katrina flicked him in the ear and frowned.  
"Be nice Hayato! Lambo is such a sweet little thing. He's so cute and fluffy!" she cooed.  
"You know, I've always wanted to see what you look like in ten years!" Lambo pulled out a bazooka. He aimed it at Katrina's head and she dove away.  
"No! No! And Hell, NO!" she growled.  
"Why?" Lambo asked, waving the weapon around.  
"Because I don't want anyone to see me. I want it to be a surprise!" Katrina cried. Lambo began to sniffle. A tear formed under his eye and he started to pout.  
"Tolerate..." he muttered. Katrina slapped her forehead and groaned. Lambo burst into tears and had a tantrum. After five minutes of extremely loud crying, she finally gave in.  
"fine..." Katrina huffed.  
"Fine what?" Lambo sobbed. Katrina ripped a piece of her dress off and walked over to the little boy. She daintily wiped away his tears and then sighed.  
"You can shoot me with the ten year bazooka..." Katrina kicked the ground. Hayato laughed and then grinned.  
"This'll be good." he said sinisterly. Katrina stuck her tongue out at him and stood up. Lambo grabbed the bazooka, beaming. He aimed it carefully and then shot at Katrina. A puff of hot air swept over the warehouse and a plume of smoke exploded. Hayato and Lambo leaned forward expectantly. As the smoke cleared, it revealed a small pile of ashes.  
"Did you KILL her?" Hayato spat.  
"The ten year bazooka isn't capable of killing anything! But it does have flaws..." Lambo trailed off. Hayato, speechless, stared at Lambo. His eyes angry and burning bore holes into the boy's forehead.  
"Really, Lambo? You just killed the only person-" something slammed down from above and cut Hayato off in mid sentence. The cot snapped and a puff of dust went up in the air. A soft hand was wrapped around Hayato's throat and a huge set of spikes were aimed at his eyes. He gasped for breath as his vision cleared.  
"Katrina?" he panted. The girl, who now sat atop him, bore insane resemblance to Katrina. She had the same brown hair and beautiful green eyes but something was different. Her face was thinner, her legs were longer, and her gloves were now extremely threatening, if they hadn't been so before.  
"Oh hey Hayato! What's up? Sorry about this, I thought you were a target. Did that crazy little Lambo shoot me with his bazooka?" she waved. Adult Katrina removed the claws from his face and her hand from his neck. It was now that Hayato noticed the presence of a claw like scar running across her neck.  
"Y-yeah... Wow you look different." Hayato commented.  
"You do too... You look way different in the future! And you too Lambo! You're quite the stunner at fifteen. Though I always knew you would be. Remember way back when we used to date? Crazy times those were..." she mused. Adult Katrina offered Hayato her hand but he refused. The huge claws and spike jutting from it were rather deterring. "Oh! I forgot to put my hand claws away. Fucking bitching aren't they? Eight inches long and freaking epic! And check this out!" she pressed a button and they sucked in until they were the length and size of her normal glove spikes.  
"Katrina! You're so different in the future!" Lambo cried. Adult Katrina swung him up into her arms and smiled. She tickled the boys belly and then poked his nose.  
"And you're so adorable! You haven't changed a bit in the future, except for the fact you're totally hot! Hayato looks different in the future too! But I won't tell you," she leaned forward until her nose was pressed again his. "Because it's a secret! And I don't want to spoil what happens for you! It's such a surprise. You are not going to believe it! I know I didn't when it happened." she paused to wink. Adult Katrina helped him up and then cackled.  
"What's this 'it'?" Hayato brushed himself off. Adult Katrina burst into laughter and then patted his gray hair.  
"It's a secret, like I said." she grinned. Another puff of smoke went out and then normal Katrina was back.  
"Whoa! Holy shit! The future is so cool!" Katrina beamed. She swung Lambo into her arms and then put him on her shoulder.  
"What happens?" Hayato inquired, now brimming with curiosity. Katrina poked his nose and then smiled.  
"What happens in the future stays in the future. What did future me look like?" she asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.  
"Fat, ugly, what normally happens to someone who eats candy all the time. Unibrow, mustache all that stuff." Hayato lied.  
"I thought she looked pretty!" Lambo smiled. He balanced precariously on the top of her head and then toyed with a hand grenade.  
"I think you look pretty too, Lambo!" Katrina crooned. She grabbed him and wrestled him down onto the floor. Katrina tickled his stomach endlessly and grinned. She wiggled her fingers all over him until he couldn't breathe.  
"Do you have any food in here?" Hayato asked.  
"Of course I have food! I'm not poor!" she boasted. Katrina grabbed his hand and led him to her room. She ripped open a refrigerator and pointed inside. The fridge was filled with soda, jelly, some assorted candies, and what seemed to be marshmallow cream.  
"You call that food?" Hayato said blankly. Katrina places her hands on her hips.  
"Frankly, this is all I eat. That's how I got the nickname dumbass!" she retorted. Hayato pulled open the freezer and peered in. Containers of ice cream filled it and a few tumbled onto the floor. Katrina tossed them back in and quickly slammed the door.  
"God... I'm starving and you don't have any real food. How do you even live on that? You should be a shitty mess!" Hayato cried.  
"I'm different is all... I'm special!" she piped.  
"Exactly, special as in freaking retarded." Hayato grumbled.  
"Guys! I have an awesome idea!" she shouted. "Let's go to like IHOP or something! And get those pancakes that have gummy worms on them!"  
"we don't have IHOPs here, dumbass." Hayato said.  
"What's IHOP?" Lambo asked, cocking his head. Katrina plucked him up and held him.  
"IHOP stands for international, or so I thought, house of pancakes." she smiled.  
"Okay, I'm starving right now so let's go find a restaurant before I kill you both." Hayato snapped. Lambo pulled out a hand grenade and threateningly held it up.  
"You won't lay a hand on me or Katrina!" he ordered.  
"Aw, you do love me!" Katrina said, she tickled his cheeks like a mother with a newborn and cooed. Katrina had always acted like a mother for Lambo, especially back in Italy. She had raised him and helped him when his real parents didn't. Katrina had a huge soft spot for the boy and would protect him with her life.  
"Please can we go get something to eat?" Hayato groaned, taking a different approach on the matter.  
"It's only two thirty and I'm not going to risk getting caught by the cops. Oh! And I just remembered, Yamamoto asked me to go watch him practice after school." she grinned evilly. Hayato let a growl escape his lips.  
"Oh HELL no are we going to watch that douche bag practice." Hayato snarled.  
"No one said you had to come." Katrina shrugged. She smirked and then licked her lips. Katrina pulled out a bag of gummy worms and began to munch on them.  
"Well then what am I supposed to do while you're gone?" Hayato snapped.  
"Get some food with Lambo maybe, I don't know." she cackled. Hayato cracked his knuckles and sneered.  
"God I hate you..." he growled.  
"And I love you! Now watch Lambo while I wash off my gloves and boots. Once I'm done we can probably go out and walk to the school." Katrina waved and walked out the door. 


	3. Chapter 3

A few notes before the next chapter! I figured I'd let any fans of this choose who(and if) they wanted a main pairing in this fanfic. I suppose I'll post a poll on my profile, so if you are a fan of this series please post an answer. Thank you! Also, I wanted to say that there will be a new chapter every Friday on every other week. Sorry for the large gap but my computer is constantly being annoying and stupid. Reviews are appreciated if you have anything you think I could improve on in this. Enjoy!

"Hayato, Lambo." Katrina called. "Ready to go?" she pushed her door open revealing an odd scene. Hayato was standing perched on a stool, his head in a noose. Underneath him, Lambo was lying, asleep.  
"No, I'm not ready to go. Because the day I go to one of Yamamoto's practices will be the day I commit suicide." Hayato remarked. Katrina rolled her eyes and walked over to him. She untied the noose and pulled Hayato away.  
"Stop being such a jealous little prick Hayato." Katrina smirked.  
"I'm not jealous!" Hayato shouted.  
"You just keep saying that, I just keep not believing you." she replied. "Come on, let's go."  
"you owe me so so much for this. I better get some goddamn food after it! Let me change and then I'll join you and Lambo..." he snarled. Katrina grinned in a satisfied manner.  
"See, you are nice." she mused. "I'm going to change too then I guess." she pushed Hayato into her closet and then slammed the door shut. Katrina also shoved Lambo out of her room. She slid out of the ripped formal dress and pulled on a tank top and some shorts. Katrina marched over to the doorway and then waited. Hayato came over soon after, cursing and kicking the ground.  
"It's not that bad. It's just a two hour long baseball practice and then we'll grab some grub. I'm paying too." she smiled.  
"Damn right you are. Freaking two hours in hell... You better be ready to pay for an, at least, three course meal." Hayato grumbled. Katrina grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the warehouse. She quickly typed in a code and then walked through the booby traps. "How come you don't have to do your little dancey thing on the way out?"  
"Hayato, Hayato, Hayato... This security system is one of the finest in the world. It's specially programmed to be impossible to trip from the other direction. So if I'm going out, none of the traps go off. I put motion sensors on the mine field and the trip wires were made to know which way they're being pulled." she said, as if it were extremely obvious.  
"Fun..." Hayato rolled his eyes. He was in an insanely bad mood at that point.  
"Lambo! Where are you?" Katrina cried. Lambo popped out of a bush and waved.  
"Right here!" he chimed. Katrina held her arms open and Lambo jumped into them. She set the boy on her shoulder with a smile.  
"Explain this to me, how did you date Lambo?" Hayato raised an eyebrow.  
"Long story, but we should have time." Katrina said. "Let me start at the beginning. I was young, fresh, and new to the world of mafias and hitmen. But I was lonely too, hopelessly lonely. I hadn't met you yet and at that point, my only friends were Dr. Shamal and Gianni. As you can imagine, they weren't a whole lot of a family. Of course, Gianni was exceedingly nice to me and let me stay with him. Dr. Shamal hit on me constantly but I didn't mind, that was just him. But anyway, I was really lonely and I was still doing mainly solo missions. So that was just a few weeks before I met you and my dad was still alive back then too. I was looking for a place to sell some weapons and one day a saw this little tail disappear behind a corner. Being the curious person I am, I followed it. At first, I thought it was some kind of deformed cow but then, I got closer. The thing turned out to be a he and that he turned out to be two year old Lambo. He was young and fresh too. I was concerned because over the course of a few weeks, I noticed he was often alone. One day, I stopped him and asked who he was. Lambo told me he was a hitman and was on his way to becoming the boss of the Bovino family mafia. I figured he was like Reborn, very strong and savvy. But he wasn't, he was... different. Anyway, over the next few months I'd play with him and tickle him and I really acted like a mom for him. And you know how babies are sometimes, toddlers and young kids. He asked me out one day and playing around I said yes. It was a cute plaything for a while but eventually it just stopped. Of course, every time he shoots himself with that bazooka I totally swoon. Adult Lambo is beyond extremely attractive. However, I was only eleven then and you were still training under Shamal. Hahaha remember the day I met you Hayato?"  
"unfortunately I do. Worst day of my entire life." Hayato grumbled. Katrina pushed him lightly on the shoulder and rolled her eyes.  
"What happened that day?" Lambo asked, still perched on Katrina.  
"Well, let's start at the beginning." Hayato mocked. "I was eleven as well and for three years I'd been trying to get into a mafia and training with Shamal. The day the Vongolas finally accepted me was also the day I met the other hitman people. There were a few older men and such, just kind of regular looking people, and then there were more interesting ones like Reborn. That first day I had not yet seen Katrina because apparently she was out on a business trip. So I went about my usual things and killed my first target. Then the next day, I was with Shamal training with knives and spiky things.  
'I'm going to call in a really awesome expert for you,' he said. I agreed because I wasn't very good with knives and could have used a little help. A few hours later I got pretty impatient and went to go grab some food. Out of nowhere this thing lands on me and starts punching me in the sides and stomach. I threw a stick of dynamite in the heat of the moment and then passed out from loss of blood. The last thing I saw before I passed out was, of course, a licorice whip. And, sadly, the first thing I saw when I woke up was Katrina. She was bandaging my stomach and as you could imagine I was a bit confused.  
'I'm Kat candy.' she said. 'And in going to be your hitman partner. Can't fight it I tried but the fat cat is pretty strict about this stuff. Now get your ass up so we can train. I made some stuff special for this so hurry it up.' and that was the worst day of my life."  
"I didn't say it like that!" Katrina growled. "You and your stupid mocking voices..."  
"you and your stupid real voice." Hayato snarled back at her. Katrina narrowed her eyes and shoved Hayato through the school gates. Her half pushed half dragged him to the bleachers. Katrina waved to Yamamoto and smiled. He jogged over and then did a few stretches.  
"You shouldn't have come if you two were sick!" Yamamoto cried. Katrina cackled and then winked.  
"Sometimes, sickness leaves the body quickly. It was probably just some simple food poisoning from my rice balls. I'll admit that they weren't the smartest thing to cook." she laughed. "Plus, I didn't want to miss an opportunity to watch you practice Yamamoto!"  
"ha-ha I see what you mean. Well, thanks a ton for coming. I'm surprised Hayato came," he dropped his voice into a whisper. "To be honest I don't think he likes me much..."  
"don't be silly," Katrina grinned. "Hayato loves you!" She nearly burst into hysterics at that point. Hayato's anger was easily seen as his face turned red. Katrina giggled and then blushed. Her gaze shifted over to the other side of the bleachers. An assortment of girls were happily chatting and watching the hunks play baseball. Lambo had sat down in Katrina's lap and curled into a ball. His huge hair brushed against her legs and she laughed. Hayato eagerly lit a cigarette and blew smoke into the air. Katrina sniffed the smoke and then exhaled deeply.  
"Want one?" Hayato asked, holding out the box of cigarettes. Katrina pondered in she should or shouldn't for a moment. Deciding that she'd probably die earlier then she already would, Katrina pushed them away.  
"Too young to smoke. But thanks..." her voice trailed off.  
"I'm the same age and I smoke." Hayato remarked. Katrina gnawed the inside of her cheek and then sighed. Another puff of smoke burst into the air. Katrina breathed that in as well and then laughed nervously.  
"Secondhand is enough." she replied. Katrina sat back and then peered at the group of girls near the two. They were laughing and throwing their hands into the air. Nasally voices echoed through her ears and she gulped. Katrina leaned back cautiously and then huffed. She pulled a bag of candy out of her pocket and then carelessly shoved the gummy chunks of sweetness into her mouth. Her stare continued, watching the girls idly as if they were wild animals. However, for Katrina, they were. She knew she could never be like them, act like them, talk like them, or live like them. Ever. Her life had already been decided for her and in some ways it was good, but in others it was bad. Katrina would never be trapped in a dead end pencil pushing job; in fact, she'd probably be put in history books. But she would also never experience the carefree naive life they led. Katrina would always know more, and would never know less. She would also never get to experience love or romance. Because, for someone in her line of work, it was considered and unneeded distraction. And the only friends she would have in life would most likely be Hayato, Yamamoto, Lambo, and Tsuna.  
"Are you... Okay? Your death staring at those girls really intensely." Hayato waved his hand in front of her face. Katrina snapped out of her trance like state and gasped.  
"Yeah fine thanks." she blurted. Hayato furrowed his brow, somewhat concerned about her. Katrina was almost constantly talking about something and only death stared when she absolutely despised someone.  
"Are they bothering you in some way?" Hayato asked. Katrina shook her head and then moved her gaze to the baseball diamond. Yamamoto was up to bat this time. He held the wooden stick and dug his feet into the ground. Yamamoto narrowed his eyes and the pitcher and then nodded. The pitcher threw the ball as hard as he could straight at Yamamoto. With his bat raised, he swung it at the flying ball with extreme power and determination. He took off from first base and sprinted all the way around the diamond with ease. The pitcher moved from his mound and clapped his hand against Yamamoto's. The group of girls clapped and winked at him while Katrina remained stationary. Naturally, Hayato only huffed out some more smoke. Katrina inhaled the cloud and then leaned back. She clunked her head against the metal backing and sighed.  
"Seriously, what is wrong?" Hayato said in a very demanding tone.  
"Just tired..." Katrina lied.  
"Tired my fucking ass Katrina. What is wrong?" he snarled. Katrina shrugged and licked her lips. She closed her green eyes and ignored Hayato. Minutes passed then ten, then fifteen, and then an hour. Katrina continued to breathe in the smoke from Hayato's cigarettes the entire time. Finally, she cleared her throat and decided to say something.  
"Those girls," Katrina began softly. "I'll never be like them. That's all." Hayato could scarcely believe what he'd just heard. A statement like that was nowhere near what Katrina was normally like. He wanted to give her a hug and tell her it would be okay, but that style never worked with her. However brutal Hayato was to his enemies was nothing like the person he was to his friends.  
"Yeah you won't be like them. Never will you be like them. You're better. You honestly want to be some primped up little slut? A goody two shoes? I bet you, by thirty they'll all be fat whores on corners, no doubt." he retorted, scowling.  
"And what will I be in thirty years? Dead? Or even worse, unloved?" she grumbled.  
"There is a good chance you will no longer be alive. But you'll never be unloved." Hayato said. He was somewhat used to be kind and compassionate to Katrina when she was upset. For years he'd consoled her about things and he knew just how to make her feel right again.  
"You really think so?" Katrina asked, sitting up a little straighter. Hayato gulped and took a puff from his cigarette for what he was about to say was extremely cheesy and overwhelmingly stupid.  
"I know so..." he grumbled, a tad hostile. Katrina let a smile perk up on her lips.  
"Hayato, you are sweet no matter what anyone says." she giggled.  
"Fuck no am I sweet." he growled.  
"Okay, okay. You aren't sweet to anyone but me and 10th." she held her hands in the air. Katrina glanced at the girls residing in the corner and noticed that they had all stopped talking. The group was now staring, wide eyed at a black van. A man stepped out, clean cut and recently shaven. He wore a black suit with a red saying shirt and tie. A pair of sunglasses were pushed up on his nose and he had a scar running from his right temple to his left cheek. He was slightly tanned and he had masculine hands. The baseball team stopped in their tracks as two other men joined the first. Uzis were held in their hands and their outfits matched the bosses. Katrina's eyes widened and she nearly choked. Hayato glanced at her and then let his mouth drop open.  
"Are they?" he gulped. Katrina nodded mindlessly and placed a hand on Lambo.  
"They are. We have to get out of here. We better get Yamamoto too; they've seen us watch him. They know he's a friend of ours." Katrina said. She watched as the group of girls skittered away. The men assembled in the center of the baseball diamond and held a gun to one boys head.  
"Kat Candy! Get out here right now or the boy dies." he ordered. The man, Teru, carelessly waved his pistol around. Katrina lightly dropped Lambo onto the floor where he landed with a thud. She stood from her place and then peered down. Yamamoto and others on the baseball team were crouched underneath her. She sighed with relief, glad she wouldn't have to tell her friend about this. Hayato also stood. As Katrina plunked down to the man, he followed carefully. Hayato already had sticks of dynamite ready, a few gripped in his hands.  
"Kat Candy here, can I help you?" she asked, immediately assuming her role as an arms dealer. Katrina reached into the pocket of her shorts and gripped her knife.  
"My executive sold you bad cocaine so you sold him bad guns. I apologize for the cocaine but when I was making my daily rounds, he, and three others, turned up dead. My main guard died of an explosion and the other two of spikes in the head and chest." Teru said. Katrina sucked her chest in and puffed it out slightly.  
"I killed all of them. They tried to kill my business associate. I had a problem with that." she remarked tastefully.  
"They tried to kill that?" the man pointed to Hayato who scowled at him.  
"Yes, they said I was a liar because I told him specifically last night that the guns worked. So he held us hostage and asked us questions. One mishap made it so he tried to shoot my friend. I am loyal to my friends and I would not let this happen. In the moment, I sprung into air and crushed his skull. Anything else you'd like to know?" Katrina smirked. Her easy going attitude while under pressure amazed Hayato. The boy placed a hand on her arm and then coughed, pointing to the guns in the other men's hands. Each one was engraved with Katrina's sign, a cursive K.C. On the trigger just above where the finger covers. Katrina, understanding Hayato was hoping they didn't work because off what she'd done earlier, shook her head. Obviously, they had removed the block she put in the safety, on that made it impossible to turn safety off. She could also see specks of dried blood on the barrel tip, indicating that they had been recently used to kill someone at point blank.  
"So you are. I'll tell you what, we will give you a ten second head start before we start lighting this place up like the fourth of July of steroids. One..." the man began counting. Katrina grabbed Hayato and pointed to Lambo.  
"Get him! I'll get the baseball team!" she shrieked.  
"Three, four." Teru continued. Katrina sprung off her feet and over to the bleachers. She ripped away at a rusted and torn fence which separated her from the boys. After a few unsuccessful rips, she turned to her hand spikes. The tore throughout the brittle metal with some ease. She kicked it away and then started pulling them out.  
"GO! GO! GO!" she roared. Hayato, with Lambo in his arms, was already thundering down the street. Katrina grabbed Yamamoto's hand and jerked him out.  
"Nine," the man cackled. His henchmen cocked their guns and aimed them at Katrina and Yamamoto. "ten." a burst of fire exploded into the air, bullets went every which way as screams cut through the dusky sky. Katrina peered back to see a bullet hurtling towards her. The silvery object gleamed lightly as it shot through the air. Time seemed to slow as Katrina tried to move out of the way. Behind her, the men were being enveloped in a huge explosion which Hayato had obviously caused. She noticed the men who were now on fire running around and screeching. The scene was reflected off their black van with gleaming poise. Katrina pushed Yamamoto down to save him from any other oncoming bullets. However, as she tackled him to the ground, a bullet struck her shoulder. It ripped through her flesh like a saw blade through wood. Unfortunately, the bullet was now lodged inside her. The frantic screams died away as the whole neighborhood went silent. Things seemed to speed back up now; Yamamoto clawed out from under Katrina and then stared. The wound was spewing blood all over the place and she moaned in pain.  
"Yamamoto... My shoulder... Shot..." she gasped, panting hard. The boy put a finger to her lips carefully.  
"Don't talk," he said. "Just breathe." Katrina nodded weakly and then used her left arm to point to Hayato. She pointed back at herself and then stared at Yamamoto, pain in her eyes. "GOKUDERA! OVER HERE!" he waved anxiously. Hayato shouldered his way through the crowd and then sprinted over. The gunshot wound began to throb and Katrina growled through grit teeth.  
"Holy shit did you get shot?" he cried.  
"No, the large hole like wound has always been there. Yes I got shot!" Katrina snapped, in too much pain to care to be kind. She began to sweat profusely, tiny beads of salty water gathered up on her skin. Hayato stared at the wound and then a Yamamoto. The boy continued to believe that the mafia talk was all just a game so there was no chance they could take him to the warehouse. Hayato also knew that Yamamoto would persist and probably follow them if they ditched him. Feeling out of any other option, Hayato sighed.  
"Yamamoto! You have a house right?" he asked.  
"Of course I have a house, why?" Yamamoto replied. His cell phone dangled from his fingers and Katrina's eyes widened. If he were about to call 9-1-1, she was dead.  
"Are your parents home right now?" Hayato inquired, plan brewing.  
"No... My mom's working until tomorrow morning... Why?" he said, becoming suspicious.  
"I have a pathological fear of hospitals, if I step foot inside one, I'll run straight out no matter what the circumstances are." Katrina panted, playing along with Hayato.  
"We need to get this bullet out of her so she can heal, can you help with that?" he grinned. Yamamoto pursed his lips and pondered the thought.  
"I don't know... Why don't we use one of your guy's houses?" he shrugged.  
"No!" Katrina and Hayato screeched in unison.  
"My mom just got back and she's a drunkard." she protested. Katrina didn't normally like to lie to people but for some reason, she felt like she needed to in Yamamoto's case.  
"My parents are also home and they'll try to send her to a hospital." Hayato said. Yamamoto sighed and pawed at the dirt with his foot. He knew that any second the police would be at the area and snooping around.  
"Alright, we can take her to my house. I'm thinking we should move her kind of like a human forklift so her back stays straight and she doesn't have to move her arms that much. Keep your arms where they are okay, Katrina?" Yamamoto asked, smiling to try and make her feel better. Katrina, whose face was now flushed of all color, nodded weakly. Hayato put his arms out in front of him and steadied them. He shoved them under her, causing a searing pain to ripple through Katrina. She cringed as Yamamoto put his hands under her.  
"On three," Hayato said. "One, two, three." both boys hauled Katrina upward, causing more pain to splash over her. She started to breathe unevenly and take quick breathes.  
"Wait!" she gasped. Hayato and Yamamoto stopped immediately. "My blood, it's all over the field. They'll try and find me and take me to a hospital..."  
"my house is right in front of the school. When we get inside I'll come over and clean it up." Yamamoto said. Katrina nodded and then laughed weakly. The sound of faint sirens whirred in the background.

"Hold her while I get some towels." Yamamoto ordered. Hayato nodded and propped Katrina on his leg, careful to keep her steady. By now, Katrina was close to fainting and freezing cold. Her hair was sticky with sweat as well as her shirt. She blinked a few times and then giggled deliriously.  
"Why is the world spinning Hayato?" Katrina asked, crazed from pain. Hayato stared at her nervously, wondering if she would be okay. He brushed wet hair out of her face with a free hand and smiled.  
"Because we're on a carousel." he lied.  
"Are there any pandas? I bought a panda..." Katrina mused. This time, Hayato ignored her. Yamamoto had set towels over his kitchen table and grabbed a huge first aid kit. He quickly jogged over to Hayato and Katrina before plucking her up. Yamamoto cautiously set her on the table lying face down.  
"What should I do?" Yamamoto asked. He was extremely nervous about the entire thing and he gnawed on the inside of his lip. Hayato shrugged and pointed at Katrina.  
"She should know." he remarked.  
"I do know... You have to dig it out of my flesh. There's going to be blood and gore so whoever is the least faint of heart should do it. Get me a wooden spoon, okay?" Katrina grumbled, flashing back into reality.  
"Um... I don't know how to say this but... Your shirt is covering it. I might have to cut it off..." Yamamoto frowned. He grabbed a wooden spoon and tossed it to Hayato. Yamamoto also grabbed a pair of scissors before jogging back over.  
"Do it, just get this over with. Hayato put the spoon in my mouth so I don't scream or bit my teeth when you do it. Ready?" Katrina ordered, taking slow deep breaths. Yamamoto gulped as Hayato shoved the end of the spoon in her mouth. The boys exchanged worried looks and then nodded.  
"ready." they answered in unison. Hayato grabbed the scissors and sighed. He gravely began to snip away at the gray tank top. Katrina started to shake and quiver from the extreme pain. Meanwhile, Yamamoto dipped the tweezers in alcohol and used a lighter to sterilize them. Once they cooled and Hayato had pulled the shirt away, the two boys stood over her. A huge tattoo enveloped her lower back. 'Welcome to the jungle was scrawled in a unique font. Just underneath it lay a pistol which looked exactly likes the ones she had given Tsuna.  
"What is that?" Yamamoto asked.  
"Her dad forced her to get a tattoo like this before she left Italy..." Hayato lied. He knew she intended to keep the mafia business a secret from Yamamoto until he could handle it.  
"Can't you just get on with it?" Katrina snarled.  
"Sorry! On the count of three I'm going to put the tweezers in..." Yamamoto blushed. He steadily moved toward the hole in her back, breathing heavily. Katrina reached her hand out and Hayato slid the glove off it. He wrapped his fingers over hers and nodded reassuringly. "One, two... Three!" Yamamoto plunged the tweezers into the wound. Katrina gripped Hayato's hand and the edge of the table with insane strength. The wooden spoon in her mouth nearly snapped as she slammed her teeth down on it. Yamamoto reached deeper inside until he felt the tweezers clank against the bullet. Katrina stared at Hayato with her large green eyes. They seem to ask 'why?' and Hayato responded by patting the top of her hand. Katrina moved her gaze to the floor, cheeks burning bright red. Yamamoto let the tweezers open slowly. He pulled them open and then pushed down. The small medical tool dug into the fleshy wall of Katrina's wound. Searing hot tears began to pour out of her eyes and she moaned, nearly snapping Hayato's fingers. Yamamoto bit his lip and he shoved the instrument down. The flesh gave way and he successfully grabbed the bullet. He gnawed on his cheek and then began to slowly pull the bullet out. A pain that Katrina had never experienced before filled her. It clouded her mind and her vision fogged. Katrina felt a heave in her stomach and she tried to gulp it away. However, the spoon was blocking her from doing so. She heaved again and the colorful contents of her stomach emptied onto the tile floor. Yamamoto let the tweezers slip from his fingers and they sprung open in the wound. Blood bubbled over as Katrina let out a blood curdling screech. Hayato clasped his hand over her moist mouth and growled.  
"I'm sorry!" Yamamoto cried. He shoved his fingers into the gunshot wound and gripped the tweezers. Katrina screamed again and squeezed Hayato's hand so hard he thought it would snap. Yamamoto dug back into the hole and searched for the bullet. This time, he managed to pull the metal cartridge out. Katrina howled as he ripped the bullet from her flesh. He placed it on the towels and then snapped open the first aid kit. A rapping on the door interrupted their makeshift operation. Yamamoto rushed over and pulled the front door open.  
"Can I help you?" he asked, staring up at a nearly seven foot cop.  
"yeah, I've gotten two noise complaints and we're scanning the neighborhood asking about what just happened." the man replied calmly. He peered behind Yamamoto to catch a glimpse of Hayato tearing through the black box of medical equipment.  
"Oh, what just happened?" Yamamoto asked, shutting the door and stepping outside.  
"Some kids were practicing for baseball and apparently a few guys jumped out and started exploding. We expect just a few kids out for some kicks. However, we found some blood and it appears that a little girl got shot. Probably around seven or eight, we're guessing she went to get her brother from practice. And it seems, by the high amount of sugar in her blood, she was pretty unhealthy. Anyway, what's going on inside?" the cop began to poke at the door.  
"My friend and I were just... Messing around." Yamamoto gulped. The man stared at him and pushed at the door.  
"Messing around doing what?" he pried.  
"Just screwing around you knows, doing what we do." Yamamoto guarded the door. The policeman, growing impatient, pushed him away. He shoved the door open and walked, or rather strutted, inside. Katrina was sitting on the table, clutching her arms around her chest. Hayato emerged from a hallway, holding a robe.  
"I found this, it's like a robe." he threw it to her. Katrina pulled the large fluffy bathrobe over her shoulder and tied it on.  
"What're you doing in here?" the cop growled.  
"I was just getting a robe." Hayato snarled back at him.  
"I was just putting a robe on." Katrina snapped. Hayato helped her off the table and set her down gingerly. She made sure to keep her right arm straight to minimize pain. Most of it was gone by now, thanks to five rapid release aspirins and a bag of gummy worms.  
"Sit down, we need to have a talk." the man ordered.

Katrina, Hayato, and Yamamoto sat down on a floral print couch. The officer made himself comfortable in a recliner chair across from the three. He pulled out a pocketbook and then cleared his throat.  
"names." the officer grumbled.  
"Hayato Gokudera." Hayato sneered, death staring at the cop.  
"Takeshi Yamamoto..." Yamamoto groaned, imagining how much trouble he might be in.  
"Xyliar... Xyliar Zento?" Katrina lied. She knew how risky it was to go under a fake name but if they found out she had been using a fake address and that she was an orphan, it would be much worse.  
"Mhmm... Alright, you are going to have to answer some questions about earlier today. First," he paused to wet his lips. "Where were you all at four thirty seven?"  
"here." the three said in unison.  
"Why?" the policeman asked blankly. He scrawled a few notes on his pocketbook and then returned his gaze to the kids.  
"Well... He's my boyfriend." Katrina said, pointing to Hayato. "And he's my best friend. We came over to do homework with each other."  
"yeah, we all lived in the area so we decided we'd just get it all over with and then maybe go for a walk." Hayato remarked. Yamamoto nodded and smiled but remained silent.  
"Okay, so you all came over to do homework with each other. Believable enough... Did you notice anything suspicious on your way here?" the man inquired. His sniffled and rubbed his bulbous nose. From the looks of it, Katrina figured he was an alcoholic.  
"No, nothing out of the ordinary. Why? What happened?" Katrina said, trying to portray cluelessness in her green eyes.  
"I didn't see anything." Hayato muttered. He leaned back and placed an arm around Katrina. She snuggled into him, playing the part perfectly.  
"Neither did I." Yamamoto said with a small nervous laugh that came out to be more of a cough. The officer paused to write down a few more notes and then moistened his lips again. Katrina stared at him cautiously, hoping he wouldn't ask for an address.  
"Apparently, some guys in vans jumped out onto the baseball diamond and bombed it. Some girl got shot in the process," the man said. Instantly, Katrina's chest tightened with worry and she shivered. "But we ran a blood test and couldn't get a match." she let a sigh of release escape her mouth and the tightness lessened.  
"That is just terrible! Hopefully she'll turn up at the hospital soon. I can't believe someone would do something like that. Can you, Hayato?" Katrina said in a faux high pitched voice.  
"Not at all. I wonder why someone would bomb our school." he answered calmly.  
"Well, it seems you three were innocent. Alright, I'll let you get back to your work then. Buh-bye." the man waved. He marched out the door diligently and the three kids inside waited. They stayed completely silent until the whir of his motor died away.

"Kudos guys! Nice acting!" Katrina beamed. She held up her left hand and gave them high fives. Some color had returned to her face and she felt a little better. The aspirin was in full swing and with the pressure of the bullet gone and a fresh dressing on it, Katrina felt okay.  
"Second cop we've fooled." Hayato cackled.  
"I've never done that to a cop before. It felt... Kind of good." Yamamoto laughed. He pulled the bloody towels off his table and then disappeared. Yamamoto bleached them and threw them in the washing machine quickly. On his way back into the main room he pulled a few sodas out of the fridge. Yamamoto tossed them to Hayato and Katrina. Katrina, however, simply let her fall to the floor. She did a one armed shrug and then plucked it up.  
"What can I say? I am not even a tiny bit ambidextrous. Could you open this for me?" Katrina threw the can to Yamamoto who gladly opened it and handed it to her. His trademark white toothed smile had returned as he flopped down on the couch.  
"Hey, I have a sling from when I broke my arm. If you want to, you could borrow it to keep your arm from moving too much." he suggested. Katrina nodded somewhat dizzily and smiled back at him. Yamamoto set the can on the coffee table and jogged into his room.  
"See! He's not that bad Hayato!" Katrina said the moment he left the room.  
"I still don't like him very much..." Hayato grumbled. She punched him in the shoulder clumsily and then groaned.  
"I won't be able to punch people! I hate life right now!" Katrina whined. Hayato punched her back and then rolled his eyes.  
"Suck it up! What are we? In mambie pambie land?" he cried.  
"Yes, I got shot in the shoulder I think I deserve some whining rights!" Katrina stuck her tongue out at him.  
"Pft, hell no. Break a bone or get punched with your gloves in the side, then you get whining rights." Hayato teased.  
"But I get bragging rights because I got shot! Street bragging rights. I got hit by a truck once, that counts as bragging rights too." she nodded as if to approve herself.  
"What kind of truck?" Hayato asked. Katrina laid her head back and then snapped it back up. Immediately, she remembered something vital.  
"Oh my god, Hayato. Where's Lambo?" Katrina said, stricken with realization.  
"Probably at the warehouse shooting himself with the ten year bazooka or trying to kill Reborn." Hayato retorted blatantly. Katrina pursed her lips and then leaned back again.  
"You better be right Hayato..." she pointed a finger at him. Yamamoto came walking out, holding a blue sling proudly.  
"Found it." he said in almost a boastful voice.  
"Awesome! Would you help me with it?" Katrina grinned. Yamamoto nodded and then sat next to her. He put her arm carefully in the sling and then put the strap around her neck. Yamamoto slowly attached the Velcro together and then nodded.  
"All done." he smiled.  
"Thanks a ton Yamamoto. If it weren't for you I'd be dead right now. Thanks to both of you actually, I needed your help." she said, taking on a serious persona. Katrina wrapped her left arm around each of her friends and then laughed. "What time is it?"  
"six thirty seven." Yamamoto replied, pointing to his watch.  
"Really? I'm so beat... I guess getting shot really takes a lot of a person, doesn't it?" Katrina asked crookedly.  
"You should definitely rest up. I know you heal faster when you do." Yamamoto suggested. Katrina stood up and then shook his hand gratefully.  
"You saved my life Yamamoto, it is a debt I intend to repay." she said, staring him straight in the eyes.  
"I guess I better go too. See you later..." Hayato waved half heartedly and then followed Katrina out the door. The two stomped back to the warehouse, Katrina stumbling over things and often falling onto Hayato. She pressed the sheet metal down with her foot routinely and the gate slid open. Katrina half walked half drunkly stumbled over to a corner. She pressed a code into a keypad carefully and then grabbed the collar of Hayato's shirt. Katrina pulled him through the field with ease and then she unlocked the warehouse door.  
"You just have to enter a special code for the traps to deactivate?" Hayato grumbled.  
"Yeah," Katrina paused to yawn. "It's a trick I have. I don't normally do it that way though; I actually like the hectic runs and jumps through the course. Its fun..." she yawned again and then shut her eyes.  
"Right... Hey, let's go over to Tsuna's tomorrow. Just for the hell of it. I'll pick up a watermelon or something; they're supposed to be really sweet this time of year." Hayato said, pulling on a pair of long fleece pants. He shrugged off his shirt and then sighed. Hayato had just remembered the earlier incident with his cot.  
"Oh yeah... It's broken..." Katrina said dopily. She giggled a little and then blinked extremely slowly. "I guess when you want to go sleepy, you can bunk with be for the night."  
"great... That sounds like loads of fun." Hayato muttered sarcastically. Katrina nodded and then shut her eyes. She began to fall backwards without even realizing it. Hayato stuck his hands out instinctively and pushed her upwards.  
"You saved me... Yay Hayato!" Katrina cackled. She poked his nose and then grinned. "So cute."  
"let's get you too bed..." Hayato growled, trying not to punch her in the face. He pushed Katrina over to her room and pulled the door open. Hayato shoved her inside and then threw a dirty nightgown at her. "Put this on and go to sleep."  
"okie dokie Hayato-ie!" she smiled and then waved cutely. Hayato rolled his eyes and blew a huff of air out his mouth. He shut the door behind him and then locked it.  
"That way she can't hurt herself... Hopefully..." he grumbled.

As the night grew older and Hayato grew more tired, he finally decided to retire. The boy rubbed his tired gray eyes and then yawned. Hayato stretched out his arms and remorsefully unlocked Katrina's door. Blankets were spread out on the floor and Katrina was laying, out cold, on the king size bed. She was sleeping right in the middle of it, legs and arms sprawled out leaving Hayato very little room. Her giant spiked boots were still on her legs and one of Katrina's gloves was on her right hand. Hayato grumbled and angrily ripped her boots and gloves off. He threw them in a corner and then shoved Katrina away. He tossed a blanket over her and grabbed one for himself. Hayato curled up and shut his eyes. A few silent moments passed and just as he was about to fall asleep, something slammed into the back of his head.  
"FUCK!" he shouted. A loud groaning grumbling noise broke the night. Hayato whipped his head around to see Katrina with her mouth wide open and her foot next to him. She was obviously sound asleep by her loud noisy snores. Katrina unknowingly shoved her hand into the side of Hayato's head. She felt his face and then laughed.  
"Face..." Katrina mumbled. Another snore cut the air and she jabbed her leg into his back.  
"SHIT!" Hayato screeched. Katrina stopped and then rolled over. A loud grunt echoed out of her mouth and then she screamed. Hayato instinctively flung his hands above his heads and then fell off the bed. Katrina snapped her head off the bed and glanced around. She placed a hand on her shoulder and moaned.  
"Hayato... Why'd you wake me up?" Katrina whined.  
"You started kicking me for no reason! Bitch..." Hayato snarled. Katrina grabbed a can with her left arm and threw it at him. Inevitably, she missed and only succeeded in making her shoulder hurt even more. Katrina groaned and then flipped onto her face.  
"I should have told you about that... I fight in my sleep. Heh-heh..." she said, voice muffled by the sheets. Her wound ached and her forehead felt extremely hot.  
"Can you not do that?" Hayato hissed, scowling.  
"Well... That's why my dad made me sleep on the floor. He thought I was going to break the couch... So, no I can't stop it. I guess I'll just go do... Something outside then. I can't sleep anyway, aspirin wore off, too much pain." she said.  
"You don't have to sleep outside..." Hayato grumbled, feeling slightly guilty for shrieking at her. After all, she had just gotten shot. Hayato sighed and then motioned for her to come over. Katrina obeyed and scurried to him, staring up like a child being told a story.  
"Get in bed." he ordered. Katrina slumped onto the mattress. "Shut your eyes and try to dream about something... Non violent."  
"that's going to be a problem... For twelve years I've had dreams about zombies. It's not like a nightmare but I fight zombies in my sleep." Katrina shrugged. She innocently rubbed her head and laughed. Another wave of pain hit struck her down and she screeched.  
"That makes sense," Hayato growled sarcastically. Katrina didn't make any reply and began to snore again. Hayato sneered before shoving her onto the floor. A loud yowl broke the silence and Katrina pulled herself up. She dragged her left hand across the sheets and Hayato noticed her glove was back on.  
"I'll fucking kill you!" Katrina snarled.  
"Ill fucking kill you!" Hayato said, reaching for a stick of dynamite.  
"Looking for this douche bag?" she snapped, holding up a bag full of dynamite. Hayato growled at her and narrowed his eyes.  
"How the hell did you get your claws on that?" he demanded. Katrina cackled and grinned crookedly.  
"I woke up while I was fighting you in my sleep and took it all." she answered. Hayato dove across the bed and Katrina jumped up. She danced across his outstretched body and then hopped down. Katrina stuck her tongue out at him. Hayato huffed hot air out of his nostrils. He charged back over the bed and grabbed Katrina's sling. She kicked him away and scurried over to the door. Hayato made a flying leap at her and Katrina ducked. He stuck his foot out and the flimsy door broke down. Katrina lightly trampled over Hayato's body again and clawed up a stack of crates. She flipped down the column before taking off again. Katrina paused and turned her head back around to check for Hayato. As she whipped back around, Katrina slammed into him. He grabbed her and Katrina kicked him in the groin. She went sprinting away, clutching the nightgown. Hayato's face burnt with rage as he pursued her. He reached the middle of the warehouse and glanced around, seething with fury. Katrina dropped down from the roof and tackled him to the ground. She put her glove spikes to the back of his neck.  
"Admit defeat." Katrina cackled.  
"Never..." Hayato replied, gritting his teeth.  
"Say I beat you or I'll kill you." she demanded.  
"You beat me..." Hayato spat, acting as though the words burnt his tongue. Katrina jumped off his shirtless back and reached a hand out, smiling. Hayato swept her feet out from under her but Katrina stuck her hand out to catch herself. She began to laugh and then Hayato joined in. For some reason, they both found the quarrels and fights humorous. The two walked back to Katrina's room, stepping over the broken door, and soon were asleep. 


	4. Chapter 4

The sound of a bleating alarm clock woke Hayato up instantly. He staggered out of bed but tripped on one of the various empty ice cream cartons Katrina had lying on her floor. Hayato cursed under his breath, wondering why she never picked anything up. It wasn't healthy to live in filth all the time. But then again, it wasn't healthy to eat nothing but sweets and sell guns to random people. Hayato picked up the alarm clock, turning every which way. It appeared the the alarm had no stop button. So he looked for a cord or a slot for batteries. But the little clock had nothing on it. He peered over at Katrina, who was ever so peacefully asleep. Her mouth was a tiny bit open and she was curled up in a little ball, clutching her shoulder. Hayato hated to wake her up when she was in so much pain, but he thought the alarm clock might have some sort of dirty secret.

He carefully prodded Katrina's cheek with his finger, but nothing happened. So Hayato started to shake her lightly. However, he progressively got more brutal. Katrina's eyelids fluttered open. She looked at Hayato very lovingly and reached out a hand.  
"I'm so jacked up on vicodin and morphine, you look like a giant purple hippo. And my hand is an ice cream cone. And Basil and Ken are standing in the corner with a lion. Why do they have a lion Goku, why?" she asked, staring off into space.  
"I think we should get you to a hospital or something..." he inched backwards. Katrina stretched out before standing up.  
"Broken glass! Fuck! Why so much broken glass?" she yelped, jumping around cradling one foot.  
"Get back in bed Katrina... I'm calling in ambulance." Hayato ordered. Katrina obediently handed him her cell phone before hopping onto the springy mattress.

She burrowed her head into the blankets and let out an earsplitting screech for no reason other than she wanted to. The girl then got back up and ran across the room screaming "I'm a bird! You can't catch me 'cuz I'm a bird!" Katrina slammed into the wall and burst into tears.  
"They're not real! No Hayato! Ken and Basil aren't real! What's going on? Why are there monkeys? I think I'm melting!" she cried. Katrina clawed at the wall like a desperate cat. Hayato quickly dialed 9-1-1 and waited for an answer.  
"Hey, how's my little Kat doing?" someone replied from the other line. Hayato looked at the phone in a confused manner while Katrina climbed up onto one of the supporting beams and licked it.  
"Tastes like the war..." she muttered.  
"Yamamoto?" he inquired, even though that kind of talk didn't sound like him. Yamamoto was too nice to answer the phone with 'How's my little Kat'.  
"Da fuck is that?" the man slurred. "Isn't that some kind of company or something? They make like pianos and shit..." Hayato opened his mouth to form a reply but the phone was quickly snatched away from him.

"Shamal... I see dead people..." Katrina whispered.  
"Oh god... Let me guess, you took vicodin and morphine at the same time again?" the man answered.  
"Yes! How did you know? Are you real? Is any of this real? Is Hayato real? AM I REAL? IS LIFE REAL?" Katrina shouted, bawling and sniffling loudly.  
"Just hand the phone back to your buddy again..." Shamal muttered. Katrina obeyed and threw the cellular phone at Hayato.  
"Hello?" he asked.  
"Yeah, okay... Katrina did something stupid again, though she's so adorable no one's gonna give a shit, but anyway, she took two painkillers she shouldn't take and it's going wrong. You can't purge her or anything so I simply suggest you keep a very good watch over her and get her to sleep it off. In a few hours she'll be fine again." the man remarked, quickly hanging up and returning to his harem of gorgeous women.

"Hayato! Hayato! Zombies! Zombies! They're everywhere!" Katrina howled, having successfully made it into her storeroom. She was running around like a chicken with its head cut off; waving her arms and climbing up towers of boxes only to plummet back down to the ground. "And the flies! So many of them buzzing around like madmen! Get away you flies!" Hayato watched as she jumped up and down wildly, getting a little more worried with each desperate cry. He knew there'd be no possible way to get her to sleep other than making her pass out.  
"Katrina, could you come over for a minute?" he called, making a tight fist. Gokudera made sure to take off all of his rings to ensure that he didn't damage the girl more than he had to.  
"Hayato! No time for sitting around! We have so little time left!" Katrina said, grasping his hands and twirling him around. "Dance with me! Until the monster eats our souls! Mukuro! Prince!" she squealed, running off and slamming into her drafting table. Katrina skittered backwards, bumping into a stack of crates before scaling a wall. She ran back and forth on a long metal beam until she could hardly breathe. The girl looked down, seeing nothing but cotton candy trees and all her mafiosi friends playing with giant gum drop people. So, instead of realizing the danger she was in, Katrina jumped down from her roost, aiming for a lake of snow cone syrup. However, in reality, she was diving head first onto a plateau of concrete.

Hayato burst foreword, arms outstretched. He couldn't imagine his best childhood friend dying. Especially not in the gritty way Katrina was going to. He could see her head cracking open as she impacted with the ground, the blood gushing out and the crunch that her spine would make. Hayato shook the thoughts out of his head quickly. The only thing he wanted on his mind was saving Katrina. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. His running seemed so sluggish yet her falling so urgent. Katrina had a blissful smile on her face as she plummeted to her death, so unaware caught up in her drug induced hallucinations. All she saw was candy and happiness, a good vision before you died. But, instead of splashing into the cherry flavored pool of joy, Katrina was snared by Hayato's arms. However, instead of seeing Gokudera, her hallucinations produced the image of a blonde teenager with a sickening grin on his face. Hayato let out a sigh of relief, still extremely angry on the inside. Katrina leaned over carefully and pecked his cheek before smiling and saying, "You've saved me, my prince!" the girl then proceeded to jump out of a very stunned Hayato's arms. She started running wildly again, up and down walls, over boxes, and on tables. This continued until, finally, Katrina stopped and fell to the floor unconscious. But her silence didn't last for long and before Hayato could get her into bed, she went racing over to her drafting table, pencil poised in the air. During her decent into sheer delusional madness, she'd hatched a genius idea.  
"I'll call it Gola Mosca... The Gorge Fly..." Katrina mumbled to herself. She started drawing a large, human like, body with a sort of gas mask like head. Hayato came walking over, face still a little pink from Katrina's kiss, and stared down at the paper before her. She seemed to be sketching wildly, making big long lines followed by some decently unimportant shading.  
"Hayato! Good... I got this idea just a second ago while I was passed out and BAM! It is genius." she clapped, gulping down a handful of gummy worms.  
"Katrina, go to sleep. You took some drugs earlier... You need some rest." he insisted, grabbing one of the girl's arms. Katrina let out a terrible howl as he tried to pull her away.  
"No! Bad Gokudera! No!" she screeched, flailing around like a dying fish. "I took the pills so I could have an epiphany! Silly! I've done it like a million times and I always get an awesome idea. My friend, Belphagor, he needed to make his knives more accurate so I made it so you can send down wires! Wires that were attachable to any surface and razor sharp! Every time I take pills I shouldn't, I become a fucking mad genius! In the minute I was unconscious, Gola Mosca was born." Katrina waved her hands out gracefully in the air. She felt as though she was about to draft out the new Jesus. Her idea was to make a large, juggernaut, beast that could withstand lots of attacks and fire missiles and projectiles out of it's hands and shoulders. However, the one problem with her idea was that the only way to power it correctly would be to put a human inside.

There was always one dire flaw in her ideas and that was it. Other than that, Gola Mosca was a feat of modern engineering.  
"You took some pills so you could come up with a genius idea?" Hayato raised an eyebrow.  
"Yep! And it's so beautiful..." Katrina smiled, sketching out the mechanics of her machine.  
"Your crazy!" he cried.  
"Try Bat-shit insane!" Katrina fired back.  
"Do you know how dangerous that is?"  
"You're an underage smoker!"  
"Well at least I don't have to OD on vicodin to come up with a good idea!"  
"Well at least I'm not gonna die of lung cancer!"  
"Yeah, but you're gonna die of a heroin overdose!"  
"Who said I like heroin? I Don't want to die like every good rockstar! Cocaine is my drug of choice! Plus, my death is gonna be fast and yours is gonna be months of chemotherapy!"  
"Maybe it'll be treatable and I'll outlive you!"  
"Oh if you outlive me I will come back from the grave and eat your face!"  
"Not before I FUCKING KILL YOU!"  
"You can't kill a ghost, dumbass!" Katrina shouted, slamming her forehead against Hayato's. He opened his mouth to form a reply but bright red lights dropped down from the ceiling along with multiple guns.  
"What's going on?" Hayato said, glancing around the room. Katrina struggled to grab one of the guns but found she was too short to reach.  
"Someone set off my alarm. And they're about to get their ass kicked..." she snapped, jumping up and down and waving her arms helplessly in the air. Hayato selflessly gave Katrina a boost into the air so she could grab one of the weapons. The girl tumbled down onto the floor but quickly stood up and patted her friends head.  
"Good Gokudera! Someone's getting sushi tonight!" she cooed, standing on her the tips of her toes to reach the top of his head. Katrina then eagerly danced out of the main storeroom and outside to see who seemed to be attacking her fortress of drugs and guns.

To her surprise a very small boy with puffy blonde hair was clinging to the fence with all his might.  
"Boss!" Katrina chirped. She typed a code into a small panel behind a few crates. The insane defense system she had set up instantly went back into hiding. "So how are you?"  
"Boss is here?" Hayato asked, poking his head out from inside.  
"You live with her?" Tsuna asked, letting Katrina pry him off the fence.  
"Yeah! Hayato and I are bestest friends! He didn't have a house so I took him in because I love him." she pet Hayato's head again. "A lot."  
"So where's Kyoko?" Tsuna said as he brushed himself off.  
"Eheh... Yeah about that... I'm a dick. Kyoko isn't here. I just told you that because I wanted to show you, the next Vongola boss, my favorite most amazingest meth labs ever!" Katrina said guiltily. "Because I'm amazing and I want to show you just how amazingly amazing I am."


	5. Chapter 5

"So..." Tsuna peered at the front of what seemed to be an extremely nice house in a very clean neighborhood. "This is a meth lab?"  
"The best! The best meth lab you'll ever witness." Katrina said, her hands clasped together and her big green eyes sparkling with glee. She was so proud of all her accomplishments but this was her favorite. So far. Katrina loved how fancy and upscale it was despite it being a place drugs were made. She eagerly dragged the two stunned boys up to the front door.  
"But in movies they're always so shabby and ragged..." Hayato said, staring up at the almost mansion.  
"Exactly! Which is why I'm such a fucking genius! You're not gonna believe what's inside!" she bit her bottom lip and shivered with joy.  
"Genius my ass..." Hayato muttered under his breath. Katrina's happy expression quickly changed to something dark and stormy. Her eyes seemed to glaze over with anger, forcing Tsuna to take a step back.  
"You wanna say that to my face?" she spat. At this point, even Hayato was a little bit intimidated.  
"Not particularly..." he grumbled, looking at the ground. In the circumstances where Katrina was angry, it was best not to make eye contact unless you wanted to get stabbed by the spiky gloves she always wore. Which inflicted an enormous amount of pain.  
"Then you wanna take that back, Gokudera?" she snarled, adjusting her gloves. "'Cuz I'll take it bak for ya." Katrina glanced over to see Reborn perched on a small tree beside the house.  
"Ciao-su, Kat." the young child said. He had Tsuna by the ear and tossed him foreword.  
"Did you come to see my meth lab? Tell me you came to see my lab!" Katrina clapped, instantly forgetting Hayato's comment. That seemed to happen often as she was easily distracted due to the massive amount of sugar pulsing through her veins.  
"No, I came to keep Tsuna from escaping. He needs to understand that drugs are an important part of a mafia boss' life. See ya." Reborn said, disappearing quickly. Katrina waved in an infatuated way and turned back to her friends. She got a firm hold on the door handle before beginning.  
"Tsunayoshi Sawada and Hayato Gokudera... Let me welcome you..." Katrina opened the door in one grand motion and spread out her arms. "To paradise."

The house was filled with gorgeous women. Which seemingly caused an instant nose bleed for the two boys.  
"Is this some kind of kinky love nest thing?" Hayato asked, face turning red.  
"Nope. I'm a pimp." Katrina grinned.  
"Candy!" a few of them called. They all raced towards her happily.  
"What happened to your arm?" one in a blue bikini asked.  
"I got shot!" Katrina smiled, giving them all friendly hugs as if she'd known them all her life.  
"Oh no!" they all cried in unison.  
"No I'm fine! Think of all the street cred I get! Now, let's go do a money count!" she said, snapping her fingers. The girls all lined up obediently and marched towards a room in the back.  
"Y-you're a pimp?" Tsuna inquired, even more dazed than before. Katrina flicked his nose and turned back around.  
"Duh! I'm in all businesses that bring pleasure! Weapons, drugs, prostitutes, everything!" she said as if it were extremely evident. There was a sharp knock on the back door and Katrina skipped off to answer it. A man in a mask came through with a wad of cash in his hand.  
"Three thousand." he whispered. Katrina grabbed the wad and flipped through it.  
"You're breaking my metaphorical balls here... I told you already that it takes at least five thousand for one night..." the girl grumbled. She tucked the money down in her boot and crossed her arms.  
"I-I'll bring two thousand next week!" he said, putting his hands on Katrina's shoulders. She took off one of her gloves and slapped the back of her hand across his cheek.  
"You will and you'll get your girl next week." Katrina growled. "Now get your hands off me and get out of here."  
"My money!" the man cried, reaching for Katrina's leg. She slammed her boot into his face and pushed him down to the ground.  
"Down payment, bitch. Now scram before I bring my men out." Katrina smirked. She grinned as he clawed his way back out the door and off into the street. Tsuna glanced at Hayato and gulped.  
"Is she always that scary?" he asked.  
"That's just her doing business." Hayato replied. Though every once in a while, Katrina was that scary. But that only happened when she didn't get what she wanted.

Katrina led them into the back room where there was a large dining room table covered in money and a big chart with each girl's name on it. Some of the names had smiley face stickers next to them while others had storm clouds on them.  
"Sticker time!" Katrina chimed. She carefully counted each clip of money and then picked up a package of stickers.  
"Me first!" the girl in the blue bikini said, waving her hand in the air. Katrina nodded and happily placed a smiley face on the chart.  
"Good job Kimi! You got over thirty thousand this week! Which means you get five thousand dollars spending money this week! But know in mind that whatever you don't spend I get to keep! Now let's go to Naomi..." Katrina frowned a pulled a storm cloud off it's backing. She stuck on a girl named Ai's section.  
"No! Not again!" a woman in a school girl outfit cried. She marched unhappily up to Katrina and lowered her head.  
"Now, Ai, you're going to get a backhand slap since this is the second time in a row you've gotten a storm cloud.-" she began.  
"Why are you explaining all of this? We already know what happens." someone interrupted. Katrina pointed at the girl with such ferocity that Tsuna took another step back.  
"Backhand, Kara. Back. Hand." she snapped. The girl walked up in a similar manner to the other, head lowered and hands behind her back.  
"I'm sorry, Candy..." the two females bowed.  
"Now, I was explaining because that adorable little blonde boy is supposed to be the next Vongola boss. I'm teaching him about escorts because he's really new to the whole thing. So I kindly tried to explain how our system works by slipping it lightly into our normal routine. But Kara, you indescribably disgusting, ill-mannered, mean, catty, bitch, interrupted my tour." Katrina sneered. She took off both gloves and lifted up Kara's head. The girl slammed her head to the right with one slap and then to the left with another. Kara hurtfully ran back to her seat while Katrina lifted up Ai's head. She slapped the girl's head to the right and then gave her a big hug.  
"I'm so sorry, Candy!" Ai whimpered.  
"It's okay. You just need to be more tenacious with our customers. You're high class, not like Kara. Answer the back door and really try and impress whoever is there. Alright?" Katrina asked, holding Ai's head in her hands. The woman nodded and then went back to her seat while Katrina preform the rest of her 'Sticker Time'.

"Now comes the real fun!" Katrina cooed. She ushered both mainly speechless boys into a glass elevator and pressed a button hidden up underneath a ledge. However, Hayato had to help her up again so she could reach. Katrina's height was really beginning to feel like a handicap and not a blessing.  
"So it's a whore house above and a meth lab below?" Tsuna asked, stunned.  
"Yep! And I'm thinking about adding a brewery in the backyard. I'd call my booze... Kat Candy's Candy Cane schnapps and Kat Candy's Halloween medley Vodka. And maybe some special beer with chunks of fool's gold in it named Kat Candy's Gold Rush. I'll bring in a master Brewster from Louisiana or something." Katrina said, slipping off into a day dream about her booze becoming the world's most popular drink. The elevator suddenly lurched to a stop and the glass doors opened to reveal a true meth lab. People in dust masks and hair nets were working precariously to make drugs of all kinds. Katrina rapped twice on the wall and all the worker snapped into a salute.  
"Candy." they all said, stomping their feet. One stepped foreword and bowed deeply.  
"Candy, it's come." he said. The man pointed behind him to a gigantic wooden crate.  
"What is that?" Hayato asked nervously. He could only imagine what Katrina could have purchased.  
"REALLY? FUCK. YEAH." the girl shouted, dropping down onto her knees.  
"What is that?" Hayato repeated. Katrina threw her arms around him, nearly weeping with euphoric joy.  
"The Chinese have accepted me and are allowing me to put product for sale in the black market. This is their welcome gift to me." she bawled. Katrina wiped her eyes on Hayato's shirt and pulled a crow bar off the wall beside her. The very short girl climbed on top of the crate and sat down. "Wall off the lab!"  
"Yes, Candy, Ma'm!" the workers saluted. They began putting up big brick walls that Katrina had prepared just for the situation. One of the men gave her a thumbs up and Katrina cracked open the crate.

Tsuna and Hayato gasped as a giant, lumbering, panda stepped out and sat on its bottom. It had a hunk of bamboo sticking out of its mouth and some odd red stains on its fur. Tsuna hoped the stains weren't blood. Though he could imagine they were. Katrina jumped down onto its back but slid off instantly. The panda let out a growl and turned around as quickly as its massive body would let it. Katrina kicked it with the sharp point on her boot and tried to climb up its arm. The massive beast slapped her away, leaving a huge set of claw marks on her neck. The scratches started pouring blood instantly. Katrina stepped back up and tackled the panda, sinking her teeth into its ear she leaned her head down and stared into one of its gigantic eyes.  
"I am your master. You will obey me." she said, seeming to stare into its soul. Then the bear stopped. It almost bowed to her, leaning its head down and letting her slide off. Katrina fell to the floor in a puddle of her own blood. Hayato came running over, none too happy about having to save her a second time. But he didn't want her to die either.  
"Tsuna, help me get her out of here." he ordered. The small blonde boy obeyed and grabbed Katrina's legs.  
"Your name is Slicey! Slicey the homicidal panda bear! They will make a show for you, and you will have a cult following before I die." she cried, being dragged away by her two companions.


End file.
